Harry Potter and The Alchemist's Code
by StrikeFreedom125
Summary: Nicholas Flamel needed someone to continue his legacy so that his research would keep going if he ever died, so he put all his findings into a series of books that a young Harry Potter stumbles upon; changing his world forever. HP with FMA elements!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to some Japanese people.

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Chapter 1: The Beginning (AN: I know, kind of cliché)

He was running for his life again.

At the tender age of seven, a young Harry Potter was introduced to the game of 'Harry Hunting'. When Dudley and his overly-large friends had first said that they were going to 'play' with him, Harry knew better than to trust anything that came out of his dear cousin's mouth. No, he didn't posses some ability to read a person's mind and learn this; no, he learned from experience. Ever since he was dropped off at his relative's house when he was one, he was treated like a slave and was usually kept locked in his cupboard under the stairs to maintain a sense of 'normality'. It was too soon that he learned that while Dudley would always hurt him, his aunt and uncle would pay no attention since it was their 'perfect Duddikins". So when Dudley decided to 'play', Harry knew it was going to be trouble. Once school was done, Harry ran as fast as he could as the game of 'Harry Hunting' began. He didn't know what was going to happen to him once they actually caught him, but he was smart enough that he knew that he didn't want to find out. And this is where our story begins.

'_Have to get away, just need to get away from Dudley and his gang cuz I can already imagine what happens they catch me,' _thought Harry as he jumped over another rose garden to hopefully put some distance between them, '_I still remember the ending of Freaks vs. Heroes'. I couldn't walk straight for a week once they were done with me!'_

Harry was broken out of his thoughts when he heard that Dudley's goons (not Dudley himself since the fat loaf was too tired and had stopped after a few minutes of running, but some of the faster goons were willing to prove themselves to "Big D") approaching him again even after taking another shortcut through the park.

"Come back here Potter, we just want to have _fun_!"

"Get your arse here so we can kick it!"

"I am going to kill you for making us run so far!"

"Like that's going to make me want to stop," muttered Harry, "idiots."

'_But even if there were idiots, they didn't mean that they weren't fast idiots and they \ were picking up speed again,'_ thought Harry, _'my last hope is to find a place where there will be adults, but the school's closed and anyone I ask for help will just believe those stupid goons behind me.' _

It was only by pure chance that Harry saw a library nearby and remembered the library incident that happened only a few days ago. It was only a few days ago, but the picture was still clear in his mind, Dudley and his gang and tried to be 'cool' by drawing in library books. _Expensive _encyclopaedia library books. The librarian had caught them and they were banned from the library but a few tears from his 'dear Duddikins' and Vernon had made certain 'donations' and the whole incident was swept under the rug. The only person who hadn't forgotten was the Ms. Smith, the female librarian who had caught them but was powerless to do anything because of the 'donation'.

With his last burst of speed, Harry dashed through the doors of the library, earning a few glares from the students that were studying.

"Don't make such a ruckus young man or I'll see to it that you'll be kicked out of here! Sheesh, young boys and trouble, you can never see one without the other!"

Harry turned his head and saw that it was Ms. Smith who was addressing him in such an authoritative tone but quiet enough to not disturb the students. He nodded his head as he acknowledged the warning and headed into the library.

'_Perfect,'_ Harry schemed,_ 'even if those idiots follow me, they won't make it past the front door!' _

True to his prediction, the boys who had been chasing him _were_ stupid enough to follow him into the library and ran right into a very irritated Ms. Smith.

"How dare you hoodlums come charging in like a bunch of bulls into this quiet sanctuary?! You're disturbing everyone else with all your ruckus, and I remember each and everyone of you! You miscreants were with that horrible Dursley kid, making a mess of all of my books!" shouted Ms. Smith

"But miss, it wasn't my fau-"

"Wait till my I tell Big D abou-"

They're cries were cut short as they were soon kicked out of the library and pushed outside; further embarrassing them in front of anyone who was laughing. One of which was the same Harry Potter that they were chasing.

'_Worked like a charm,' _Harry thought as he pondered about his next actions. _'Doesn't look like I'll be going outside though,'_ as he saw the very angry crowd of boys outside _'guess I'll just stay here and check out some of these books. Now where was that cool science book about lightning that the teacher was talking about….' _

A year later….

' _I don't know if it was fate or destiny or even God that led me to this place, but I will be forever grateful for whatever deity that led me here,'_ pondered an eight year old Harry as he looked around the library and the events that happened in the past year.

When he had run into the library, he had noticed that there was finally a safe haven that he could go to that Dudley and his gang couldn't follow! While Ms. Smith was strict, if you respected the books, she could actually tolerate you, and for Harry, this was important since she was the barrier protecting him from Dudley and his goons outside. It was after reading a science book about lightning that he discovered that he actually _liked_ to learn how things worked! With all his time hiding in the library and what seemed to be hundreds upon hundreds of books about how things worked, it was without a doubt that the genius in him that came from his mother and father (but he didn't know that since his aunt and uncle said they were drunks but based on their past record, _somehow_, he doubted that) ignited into a undying flame as he processed more and more books. To some, he could be considered a prodigy and at first, he had tried to use his new found knowledge to gain popularity but it did not go too well.

Harry grimaced at the memories of what had happened with that plan.

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Even though he knew it was futile, a young Harry always wanted to have attention (the good kind, not the bad kind he got from his _family_) and this was the perfect way to get it! Even the Dursleys couldn't complain about him if he got good grades, he could show how that he wasn't useless! Despite past experiences, he couldn't stop dreaming because to see his classmates showered with praise from their families was something that he had always dreamed of. Even if it might be futile, the child in him could not say no to such a plan.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Even with all marks he had gotten, his treatment with Dursleys had gotten even worse when he had showed them his report card.

"Aunt Petunia, I got my report card back today!" shouted a very excited Harry, "Look!"

"Pish posh, why would I even care about your low marks compared to my little genius, Duddikins!"

"But Aunt Petunia, the teacher said that I got the highest marks in the class and that no can even get close when it comes to science!"

"You stupid little liar! How dare you say that you got better than my perfect son when all you do is laze around while he studies so hard!"

'_That's what you think,'_ thought Harry, _'He's spends more time complaining about studying than doing any.'_

"But look at my report card and see what you think!" Harry said while shoving his open report card into his aunt's face, which, with such close range, could not help but read them excellent grades and wonderful remarks from his teachers that he had gotten.

"You, you, you must have used your freakishness to do all this! No way can you be better than Dudley! When Vernon comes home, I will make sure you get punished for cheating off of Dudley and using your 'abnormalities' to make fools out of good hard-working students like my son!"

When Vernon had come home that night and heard that news that the 'freak' had gotten better grades than his 'manly' son, Harry was reduced to tears as he received one of the longest lectures in his life and was locked his cupboard for a week, with only the bare minimum of food. He had decided there and then, that he would only prove his worth to himself and forget those who ignored him. It was at that time that a piece of his young innocence was forever gone.

'_And the names that my classmates would call me weren't too fun either,' _Harry reflected,_ 'instead of being happy for me, all they did was call me names and even start to team up with Dudley against me. The life of a teacher's pet is not for me'._

By this time, Harry had gotten to learn a great deal of the sciences that made the world go round. Even with his young age, the ideas of electrons and particles were not new to him anymore. The more sophisticated depths of these subjects might have been, but for someone of his age, he knew that it more than enough to graduate elementary school.

He was actually looking at other sections of the library today to familiarize himself with other parts instead of the science wing when once again, fate had decided that his life would take a drastic turn that day.

As he was looking around the library, he had stumbled upon a 'teen hangout' in the library and as he passed by, the metallic silver cover caught his eye and it even seemed to call out to him.

'_Strange, Ms. Smith hasn't put this one away yet,' _noted Harry as he approached the desk where the book lay. _'She must have forgotten it, I guess I can help her out and do it for her." _

When he arrived at the desk, he saw that the book was actually some sort of comic book?

'_That's a weird title, but it sounds pretty cool. Alchemist, uh? A person who works with alchemy if I'm not mistaken. Well, alchemy is a kinda like a science. I guess as a self-declared scientist, this should be pretty fun.'_ Thought Harry.

And with that, he sat himself down and opened the manga, the cover dangling on the side with the words, "The Fullmetal Alchemist" in bold print on the cover.

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**AN:** Sorry if the beginning is pretty boring but you can expect more on the next chapter! This was my first time writing a fanfic about years of reading them so plz review and offer your comments!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to some Japanese people.

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Chapter 2: The First Time

When Harry had opened up the book that was awaiting him on that table, he had no idea of the great wonders of the entirely different world that awaited him. Sure, science books were great and they provided a great deal of knowledge, but that was it, they were _always_ about facts. The term imagination was never even mentioned in any book he had read. So when Harry had discovered possible applications for such sciences, what else could he do but be absorbed into such a tale?

'_This is great! Applying the rearrangement of particles to completely change the molecular structure and elements of an item and thus, creating something almost completely new!'_ thought Harry as his eyes scanned every page with a speed that would leave a future bushy-haired classmate jealous. _'If you could just create enough energy to produce such an effect and redirect it in the correct manner, this could actually be possible!'_

After finishing the book, Harry checked the bar code along its spine and dashed to the section that the book came from, hungry for more and making sure to avoid anyone who could easily report him to Ms. Smith. But while the book had appealed to his scientific side, the small portion of Harry's childlike innocence that had survived the Dursley's brutal treatment also yearned for the same thing. A chance to explore and use his imagination. To live in a completely different world where there were no Dursleys, no bullies, no living in cupboards. It was a dream come true; giving Harry a chance to take back some of the childhood that had been stolen from him.

'_If this was only the first book, I can't wait to see what happens next. The plot is pretty good, but those ideas are priceless!'_ thought Harry.

And it was on that day that Harry began to delve into the world of Amestris, following the adventures of the Elric brothers, paying attention to every detail and going through every Fullmetal Alchemist resource available to him. He read through every manga at the library and even watched the anime series through the library computers (but he had to switch to an educational program every time Ms. Smith came around). To others, it might have seemed foolish to pay so much attention to a comic book, but to Harry, it was a world where he wasn't judged or teased by others and a freedom that he hoped to achieve one day. In this new world, he could be anyone he wanted to be.

6 months later…

"I'm late!" screamed Harry as he tried to push his little body even faster to make it back home. "I knew I shouldn't have stayed extra late to watch that new OVA! Okay, maybe I shouldn't have tried to read that extra hundred pages in that science textbook either but it was so interesting!"

Harry burst slipped through another crowd that was going in the opposite direction as he continued to sprint as fast as he could. Everyday, Uncle Vernon had given him an exact curfew to get back by.

"Not like it was a good reason either, all they care about are themselves," muttered Harry as he remembered the _kind_ 'warning' that his uncle had given him.

"We don't want your 'freakishness' here, boy! So you better stay far away from this house as humanly possible so we don't have to see suffer your 'abnormality'! And come back right before dark since we can't have the neighbours thinking that we're irresponsible; leaving a kid out after dark. Oh…... if only they knew about your 'weirdness', then we wouldn't even have to care if you came back home or not!"

After that day, Harry had always been punctual, arriving right before sunset so that his uncle wouldn't get angry at him. The best part about the deal was that he had the entire day to himself and the Dursleys had no idea what he was up to! Sure, all he did was stay at the library, but by volunteering at the library, he had earned enough 'credit' with Ms. Smith to participate in some of the children activities that took place there. He might have been all alone in these classes ("Big D" had set out a warning for every kid in the area that they would be beat up if they were even seen talking with Harry) but he was able to learn things that he felt were best taught when there was a teacher. Some of those lessons included chess (Roy Mustang was pretty good at chess, so why couldn't he be?) and martial arts (almost EVERYONE in the manga knew martial arts! There were more people who knew some sort of combat than there were that didn't!). With his new regime, Harry usually had little to fear since he would always make it on time, but this time was different. Every other time, he had made it right on time but this time, if he didn't hurry… he didn't want to think about the consequences.

'_Uncle Vernon has been drinking too much lately. Sure, he always drinks but ever since that "blasted internal affairs men who do nothing but trouble us good, hardworking people" had talked to Vernon, he's become a bit violent,'_ pondered Harry, _'last time I was almost late, he looked like he was ready to kill me! Even with those martial arts lesson that I take every week, no way can I beat him! He's like a fatter, uglier, and slower version of Armstrong. He'll wipe me out in one punch!' _

As he kept running, he knew that time was running out. The street lamps that lined the streets were beginning to turn on while the sun slowly set; disappearing behind the houses as the night sky began to replace the one above him. Drenched with sweat, Harry dashed until he had arrived at number four at Privet Drive, but by then, it was too late; the sky was completely dark and not even a hint of the sun was evident in the night sky.

"Here goes," gasped Harry, trying to get some air back into his body as his legs felt numb from the long run.

*Knock, Knock*

Harry heard the shuffling of feet inside the house before the groaning of one of the chairs told him that someone heavy (most likely Dudley since there would have been a bigger groan had it been Vernon) had come to get the door. When the locks had been undone, the door was opened and the smell of alcohol burnt through Harry's nose as the fat face of his cousin smirked at him, only meaning trouble for him.

"Dad's going to be really mad when he sees you. I can't wait to see what happens, maybe I'll be allowed to join in, let me have some of the fun, you know?"

"Leave me alone Dudley," Harry muttered as he slipped through the door frame and past Dudley (which was pretty hard seeing as how Dudley covered almost the entire doorway). When he went into the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight a very purple and drunk Uncle Vernon with Dudley approaching behind him, eager to see the 'fun' that was going to occur.

"BOY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? YOU'RE LATE AND LOOK AT YOU, YOU SMELL HORRIBLE! HOW DARE YOU STINK UP OUR HOUSE WITH YOU FILTH! LOOK AT YOU; YOU'RE ALL SWEATY ON TOP OF BEING LATE!"

"….." Harry said nothing as he had learned long ago, that protesting would lead to making the situation worse, never better. Dudley, on the other hand, had no qualms about escalating the situation more.

"Dad! The freak said that he was glad those internal affairs guys were talking to you! And he got me all sweaty when he tried to push me down in the hallway too!"

Before Harry could even try to deny these facts, Dudley's and Harry's attention were focused on the crashing noise as Vernon threw his glass of wine into the wall. All the blood in Harry's face drained away as Vernon started approaching him.

"How dare you, BOY! Trying to hurt my son and being late, after all we did for you! We clothe you, give you a roof above your head and this is how you repay us!? I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOUR!"

"But, Unc-"

Harry barely had any time to mumble a form of excuse before he felt his uncle's punch in his gut. His legs felt weak as the force of the punch had made him lose all feeling in the bottom half of his body. He fell to his knees, his legs no longer able to support him. The beating continued to occur, blows coming from every side.

"How dare you * smack* try to *smack* infect us with your 'freakish' ways! This will *smack* make sure you remember *smack* to never try anything again!" Vernon shouted before picking the young boy up and dragged him along the floor as if he were nothing but garbage to the obese man.

"Now stay in there and don't come out for a WEEK!" Screamed Vernon as he tossed Harry into the cupboard like a ragged doll and locked the door from the outside.

As the foot steps began to quiet and leave, all that remained was a hurt and injured boy, bleeding from multiple wounds all across his body and suffering from broken bones. Bruises and cuts caused aches throughout his body as he dared not move, fearing that even the slightest action would cause even more pain.

"It hurts," Harry murmured, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…" repeating the same phrase over and over again in order to think of something other than the pain that plagued his body.

'_Why was I left here? All I do is get hurt and treated like a slave, there's no one there for me, why, oh why was I left here?'_ thought Harry as he sobbed uncontrollably. _'Why couldn't Amestris be real? I could be an alchemist and be loved by everyone. I can picture the transmutation circle so clearly, every detail, every line and every symbol. The first thing I would do is to create crane figurines hanging all around __my__ room. Not a cupboard, but __my__ room. Cranes have no limits but the sky, a true freedom that I long for. It would be so easy, just clap my hands and picture every detail of a folded crane…' _

Harry was so caught up in his thoughts of grief and wishes for a better future that he had been subconsciously performing the very steps that he were thinking about. It was simply a case of mind over matter as despite the pains that his body felt, Harry slowly clapped his hands and pictured the same transmutation circle that he had memorized after seeing so many times. He slowly touched his hands to the floor of his cupboard while concentrating on his crane; too deep within in his fantasies to remember that such a thing could never happen but believing it to be real.

His hands grazed the floor, and Harry was forced to squint as a flash of light brightened up the room for a moment. As soon as it appeared, the light disappeared. When he slowly opened up his eyes, his eyes widened until they couldn't any more and his jaw was left hanging. In the wooden floor, was a wooden crane figurine, the same figurine he had pictured! But before he could even question what had happened, Harry suddenly felt too exhausted to continue as blackness started to creep through the sides of his vision. As he slowly passed out and even with all the pains that racked his body, Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face, imagining the endless possibilities that awaited him.

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AN: Thanks for all those people who read my story! I was really happy that I got such a turnout and hope you enjoyed this chapter! Well, the introduction is finally done, Harry knows transmutation, and begins to train in order to master his new ability. Once again, thank you to all readers who took time to look at this fic and plz, comment and review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. (Yes, I actually looked up this guy's name this time)

Just for those who might get lost (I forgot to put this here before)

'_thoughts'_-thinking

"speaking" -speaking

**AN:** I am SO sorry for the late update. I'm pretty sure that most you thought that I gave up on this story didn't you? Well, I probably would have thought the same so npnp xD but I'm back! Now that exams and a whole other bunch of stuff is over, I can finally get back to this so as a celebration, here's chapter 3!

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Chapter 3: Experimentation

'_Am I alive?'_ thought Harry as he slowly tried to open his slightly swollen eyes. _'Because I don't think you're allowed to feel this much pain when you're dead.' _

As Harry gradually began to get the feeling back into the rest of his body, he couldn't help but notice the soreness that racked his body. Trying to move any part of his body was immediately met with a slight degree of pain when it felt that his body hadn't been moved in what seemed to be ages.

'_That fat idiot really did a number on me, I haven't felt this bad since Dudley 'accidently' pushed me down the stairs! But to actually hit me, I didn't even know Vernon had it in him,' _reflected Harry his current situation. _'I can't even run away from this accursed house either. I've seen how people out there are treated; at my age I won't survive. This is going to be he-'_

Harry's line of thought was immediately halted like a train crash when he had finally noticed the wooden crane figurine that lay connected to the floor. Realization quickly hit him like a sack of bricks as his eyes widened until they couldn't anymore, his jaw pretty much hitting the floor.

"HOLY F***!" shouted Harry, but with the screaming and sobs that he had endured the last time he had been awake, all that came out was a cross between a choking dog and a dying bird, not a very pretty thing to hear.

'_I thought I dreamed the entire thing up last night! I was so sure that a few of those hits probably gave me hallucinations but for it be real, this is unbelievable!' _

Harry continued to stare at crane that lay on his floor, not sure where able to believe his eyes. He had even poked it a few times time to make sure it was real and it had still remained there. After what seemed to be hours of prodding, poking and pinching himself, he came to one conclusion:

"It's real!" Harry exclaimed but once again, all that came out was a coarse sound that made one really wish that they were deaf; however, the noise must have alerted his relatives of his presence because the next thing that Harry heard was his Aunt Petunia banging on his cupboard door.

"Shame. We were hoping you were dead after staying quiet for two days straight, but at least now we don't have to worry about making sure to clean your body. Get up boy! Since you've been sleeping these two days, you have a lot of work to catch up on!" commanded Aunt Petunia as she began to walk away to do… whatever she does.

'_Two days! I've been sleeping for two WHOLE days! That would explain why most of the pain in my body is a gone compared to before, but I still haven't figured out how the crane got there!'_

Harry tried to frantically come up with a CREDIBLE and LOGICAL solution for the appearance of the crane (his first thoughts that aliens had given him superpowers to protect the world only served as embarrassing to his scientific nature) but in the end, all that he could come with was the idea that alchemy was real! All the facts pointed to that conclusion, the clapping, the transmutation circle in his mind, and his thought process at the time, everything pointed to that one conclusion!

His excitement was leaving his body completely hyper as he pondered the possibilities that presented themselves before him, but before he could try to experiment this new ability, he was once again shouted to make breakfast by Aunt Petunia.

'_I'll think about this later; I can experiment with alchemy later.'_ thought Harry as he slowly got out his unlocked cupboard and made his way to the kitchen to perform his daily chores.

It was absolute torture that day; waiting for the chance to finally be alone to experiment on his new found ability! Only after serving the Dursely's their breakfast (and avoiding as much contact as possible and ignoring their usual remarks about his parents, himself, his life…etc) that he was given the chance to go to school.

At school, the wait wasn't so bad and thanks to the baggy clothes (that were several sizes to large for him) hiding the remaining bruises after his recovery, no questions were asked. Of course, it was also at school where he had to put up with Dudley's teasing about his life, his parents, his clothes that looked ridiculous on him (which Harry had to refrain from mentioning that these were Dudley's clothes in the FIRST place and that he was just making fun on himself), his lack of social life (none of his classmates dared to approach Dudley's favourite cousin) and other remarks (with Dudley's brain capacity, they were just mainly what his parents had said this morning).

It was only after school when he had snuck into a secluded area behind the school where he was sure that no one could see him (he couldn't have someone stumbling upon him and being called an alien where he would probably be dissected/studied under a microscope for the rest of his life now could he?) that he began his experiment.

'_Okay, now to finally give this baby a test run, but what to make…'_ thought Harry.

Even though Harry knew that he should try to be discreet, he was thinking of making a giant statue of himself or a gargantuan fist pop out from the ground like in the manga (if there was anything he learned from Ed, it was to be flashy).

"Here we go, giant statue of myself here we come! Behold that power that is Harry Potter!" cackled Harry (who said that only the alchemy had to be flashy?) as he clapped his hands and placed them on the ground.

All that could be heard for the next few moments was complete silence…until it was broken by a string of curse words coming from the young dark-haired boy that was discreetly rampaging all over the place.

"Now that I've got all that out of my system, what went wrong?" questioned Harry. _'I clapped my hands, I imagined the circle, I knew what I wanted so what did I do wrong? I've already done this once before! Okay, I'll try again.'_

So Harry decided to try again except this time, with a large rock fist popping out of the ground instead of a statue, and so Harry tried again.

and again.

and again.

It wasn't until hours had passed by that Harry had decided to actually think before trying again (after a count of 134 tries and counting, you would to).

'I have everything but what's different from that night where I transmuted the crane? The only difference is that I was pretty much on death's door that night and even if I get to transmutate, that's an experience I definitely don't want to repeat,' pondered Harry as he stared at his hands, just wishing that they would already do something already.

'_Actually, there might be a clue with that death part,' _realized Harry as the pieces that had avoided him for the past hours began to fit in and his prodigy mind began solving the problem. _'In the manga and the anime, it always refers to alchemy as a science; what I've been doing here is just hoping that it'll work like magic! Even when I felt like dying, my intent and thought process was solely focused on the three steps of alchemy. Right now, I'm forgetting to understand, decompose and reconstruct and actually believe that this will work. I've been too sceptical of this whole thing from the very start!'_

"Let's do this right then," Harry muttered to himself as he guided himself through the steps, "Understand that the material I'm transmuting is the ground which will contain several different minerals like iron, calcium and decompose it to reconstruct into a fist. Imagine the basic transmutation circle and the energy I'll need to move the particles into the desired shape and change the elements which make up the ground and believe that it will happen."

As Harry went through the steps in his mind and told himself, he had closed his eyes and began to imagine the circle that he had read and seen countless number of times. For once in his life, he relied on pure faith instead of the scientific background of facts and proof that he so strongly believed in and only concentrated on the task at hand. He could imagine the details of each part of the fist and knew he could do this. Having power to protect himself from the Dursleys was all the encouragement he required to truly believe he could do this.

Harry placed his hands on the ground and as he did that, a bright light appeared and crackles of electricity could be heard. He could feel a surge of energy travel through his body and into the ground, the same feeling that he had that same night.

When the light show was finally over, Harry opened his eyes to see that his faith had rewarded him as almost six feet away from him was the same fist that he had clearly imagined in his head only days before. There was only one problem…

"Why's it only 10 inches tall?!"

Despite being happy that he had finally gotten it right, Harry couldn't help but ponder what had happened to the fist that was supposed to stand at least 2 meters tall.

"I use that much energy and I get this?!" Harry sighed. "I guess I need practice probably; this is my first time doing this anyways, but this is SO cool!"

The little ball of bouncing energy that had been almost dead before was suddenly revived as a young Harry Potter couldn't keep the smile that overtook his face off.

"Now let's try Armstrong's alchemy," exclaimed Harry, too excited to even notice that his first transmutation left him almost too tired to go on.

With great precision and practice, Harry began to sketch the transmutation circle (with a piece of chalk he had stolen from class) he had seen on Armstrong's gauntlets onto a rock that lay before him. With the same focus and dedication that he had used to make the fist, Harry proceeded to punch the rock; hoping for a spike to come out and viciously soar through the air to puncture and hit the bushes behind the rock.

While that was what he had HOPED, the reality was a bit different.

"Ouch! Ow, Ow, Ow,"

Those actions were then followed by:

"Ouch! Ow, Ow, Ow,"

"Ouch! Ow, Ow, Ow,"

After three tries at the new alchemy, Harry had concluded that there was something wrong (his sore and red knuckles were a huge indicator).

'_What am I doing wrong? I'm doing the exact same thing as before but nothings happening! The only difference is the transmutation circl-'_ For the second time that day, Harry's mind had received an epiphany and began to solve the issue at hand.

'_I can't be the only one who knows how to do this, I mean the characters from Fullmetal Alchemist can do all of this too and the author must have known too because you can't just randomly come up with something like this and work. So, perhaps the book is a cover-up? Maybe it's actually a code of some sort?' _Harry pondered as it began to understand the true meaning behind the book and anime that he had loved so dearly.

_Each alchemist uses different transmutation circles for different types of alchemy; to understand and perform alchemy, one has to understand each element in the process, including the circle. For some reason, the basic circle worked fine since I knew that the circle was supposed to redirect the energy but for this one, it just isn't enough. Perhaps there's a different meaning behind the circle? I mean, that would work, the lines and drawings are different on the basic one than Armstrong's specialized one. That means I'm going to have to experiment in order to understand these new methods of alchemy other than basic transmutation. It makes sense actually, that would explain why no one can ever copy someone else's alchemy! _

With that, Harry was able to conclude one thing: the idea of Fullmetal Alchemist provided the endings of possible transmutations like giant flames or human bombs and the first step that was the basic circle for easy transmutations but the middle step was something that the reader would have to solve.

Harry inwardly grinned, _'this will be fun.'_

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**AN:** Well, there you have it! Harry has finally begun to realize that there are codes within the series that someone (if you don't know who, please read the summary again) and can finally use basic transmutation to a certain extent. For those who are impatient with this, don't worry, Harry will be going to Hogwarts soon enough I'm just focusing on his growth right now.

Thanks to all those who reviewed! For a first time writer who can barely get a pass in English, this is a real accomplishment for me and would like to thank you.

**yet-another-Gaara-fangirl: **as you can see, the crane didn't come out of thin air, it was made out of the wood from the floor so it wasn't conjuring anything or magical like that. Thanks for the compliment and I agree, the characters (with Harry being so different) will make the story hard to fit together.

**Gothic Diamond:** Since Harry is really young right now, I can't really say what shipping this will be but I should be able to come up with something once he reaches Hogwarts at least. If you have any ideas, please give them because I could use all the help I can!

**crimsonkyuubi:** Thanks for the review and don't worry, the pairing in here (to the best of my ability at least) won't be slash.

**EdwardCullenIsCoolerThanYou:** I agree, I plan to make Harry VERY awesome in this fanfic (but not too overpowered so that it'll be okay) and thanks for the joke, I was laughing pretty hard when I read it

To **thsunami, Pajora Negro, CopyZero, Jared'N Jensen, Sangheli Knight, Raven Marcus, rags007, Digidestined of Nobility, v i t a l e t um, panther73110, mrawgirl09, YamiRyo, **THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS.

Constructive criticism would be most appreciated and any ideas or comments would be great. I would like to thank everyone for taking time to read this and I hope you enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

'_thoughts'_-thinking

"speaking" -speaking

**AN: **What has it been, a month since I've last updated? Anyways, sorry for the long wait and thanks to all those who reviewed the story! This chapter is the longest one yet and took me a while to get it all together. I guess the reason for such a long wait was the change in plot. I was reading some other fanfics when I realized that the plans I had for mine followed too closely to the book. I kind of got bored with the typical story line and decided to try something new. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 4**: Okay, I'm a wizard… but what's with the HERO worship?!

"I am a wizard."

If one were to place an ear against the small cupboard under the stairs of number Four of Privet Drive, they would hear the soft voice of a nine year old boy constantly repeating that phrase.

That is, if they strained their ears hard enough to hear it. Perhaps, this was the best as the young boy in the cupboard would have been in serious trouble had his relatives heard what he had been muttering, but seeing as the Dursleys were too busy staring at the telly to even notice him, the boy was safe.

"I am a wizard."

Inside the cupboard, Harry laid down on his cot while staring at the ceiling and pondering about the news that he had recently learned.

Most would guess that when Harry had learned the secret that his relatives had kept from him all these years that he would be happy and had confronted the Dursleys about this fact and ask why he had been lied to all these years. However, this Harry was different.

'_If there is one thing I've learned in this house, is that you never ask questions, especially if it dealt with something abnormal unless you wanted another punishment'_ thought Harry as he continued to repeat the same phrase over and over again.

'_A younger and more naïve version of me might have just accepted this, but I can't help but wonder how does it all work?'_ Pondered Harry as he thought back to the events that had led him to such a discovery.

**Flashback**

"Okay class, please pair up as we go though the busier areas of downtown London. All of you will get a chance to look around and shop but please stay together." Mr. Wong ordered his class of 9 year olds.

Leaving the children to themselves, he turned back to sit back down on the bus seat beside Ms. Boy, the other guardian on the field trip.

"I can't wait until this trip is over," Mr. Wong muttered to his seatmate.

"You and me both, having a bunch of excitable children on a bus headed downtown should be the definition of chaos," Ms. Boy whispered back as she rubbed her forehead to hopefully prevent the migraine that she felt was coming.

"The only reason I've been able to keep my class in check was by threatening them with this cancellation of this trip. Now that it's here…" Mr. Wong said.

"Hey, shouldn't we be make sure that each of the children in the back is paired up? You know, be responsible or something?" Ms. Boy questioned.

"Please, it's just a little task like choosing a partner, I'd rather take time to just relax while I still can" Mr. Wong replied.

" I guess…" Ms. Boy said as she peered back at the students on the bus before deciding that the children could handle such a simple and easy task.

With the declaration of partners, each of the students that had begun shouting to their friends to be buddys except one child who remained seated in the same position and whose only reaction to the announcement was to turn the page of the book that he was reading.

The book reading child continued to progress through his text as he soon realized that he was the only one left without a partner.

'_Not that anyone has the courage to approach me,_' pondered Harry as Dudley and his goons had completely scared away anyone who seemed interested in becoming his friend.

Even the only person left who was to be Harry's partner had decided to form a trio with an already existing duo. Not that Harry cared much, he was used to these actions by his classmates long ago.

The bus soon halted with a screech and was parked, a sign that they were finally allowed to leave the bus. The rest of his classmates soon rushed out with Harry slowly walking behind them, his book tucked safely within his bag.

Thinking of his bag, Harry smiled. When he had first found it, it was in extremely bad condition as Dudley had tried to stuff too many things and pretty much ripped the seams. The straps had also been in horrible condition as Dudley had tried to fit into it despite his large size.

When Harry had gotten it, it taken him a few tries before it had been restored properly but the bag had been his first attempt at trying to repair something with the alchemy. By changing the ink in the bag's colouring, his relatives had been none the wiser and Harry was another step closer to becoming a better alchemist.

Once Harry grasped the basics of manipulating cloth, he was able to change his clothing that he usually wore so that it would actually fit him. Unfortunately, he could only wear these clothes that fit him when he was sure that Dudley or the rest of his relatives couldn't seen them. Otherwise, he might get in trouble and questioned as to how he got these clothes.

He was rudely awaked from his memories when Mr. Wong had decided to remind them of their purpose there.

"Children! Please remember that while you look around downtown London, please stay on this street and return in 5 hours before we head back!" Mr. Wong shouted.

With those final words said, the children started running up and down along the street, not even knowing where they were going to but too hyper to really care.

Trying to look like his classmates so that he wasn't singled out, Harry also started to walk as well while looking for somewhere to spend the time. Since the majority of the stores were for toys on sale, there was really nothing for him to do since his relatives made sure that he was never allowed to even touch a single penny.

'_Sure, I could always try my hand at counterfeiting but that's too risky_' thought Harry as he spotted a bookstore with a large window, not unlike the other stores to view inside, that could possibly be his safe haven for the next few hours. Without a partner to bug him about his hobbies, he was free to visit any store that he wanted to anyways.

As Harry approached the book store, he noticed some peculiarities about it. Compared to the rest of the street, this store looked what could be described as _old_. While the other shops used bright neon lights and TV displays to attract potential customers, the book store looked like from something the old ages!

'_Is that a candle that they're using for light?!_' thought Harry as his eyes widened in shock before his rational self told that it was probably for decoration more than for practical use.

"Guess it's still be better than nothing I guess." Harry murmured. The loud sounds that came from passing cars and the screams of the countless children on the street

Despite those small oddities, Harry decided to step through the door.

Inside the book store, it was just like what Harry had seen through the window, dusty old books with shelves lined up with books and some comfortable couches in the corner. Behind the counter sat a woman who appeared to be in her mid 40s that paid no attention to his entrance.

Deciding to view the books on the shelves, Harry and took another step and felt something what he would describe later akin to electricity running through his body.

"What the " Harry said as he felt something like sparks cover his body for moments.

'_This power is almost like the one I use for alchemy! Except it feels a bit different… but what could it be? Could it - _' Harry's mind continued to run on hyper speed as he dared not move his body, fearing what possible effects it could have on whatever was happening.

Within moments, the tingling feeling was gone and Harry watched as what used to be a normal bookstore slowly morphed into what could only be described as Halloween come early.

The books on the shelves slowly turned into dusty old tomes that resembled those from the medieval ages while what had looked like a bean bag in the corner had turned into a cauldron?

The person who had been at the counter no longer looked liked the normal person from before but looked like some stereotypical witch that just came out of a story book with robes and even a pointed hat.

Before attracting more attention by simply gaping at everything, Harry slowly and surely made his way to the back of the bookstore to settle his thoughts. If there was anything that he learned, it was to calm down and think before jumping right into things.

As Harry made his way to the dark corner into the he was able to catch glimpses of the titles of the books that lined up the shelves.

'_Potions? Transfiguration? Charms? This is some cult store isn't it?_' thought Harry as he kept walking but as he made his way, the idea of a cult store slowly became dismissed as he remembered the energy that he had felt.

"It was real. That energy was like alchemy and since I felt it, I'm either part of this or Dudley actually hit me too hard on the head that last time." Harry muttered.

As Harry continued to walk, he noticed that the bookstore seemed a lot larger than what he had seen from the outside but chalked it up to his imagination.

When Harry finally stopped, it wasn't because he had reached the end of the aisle. No, it was something far more intriguing than the possibility of figuring out if this store was real or simply his imagination.

He stopped because right next to him, there was a picture on a book that even though he had seem many times, it was too unbelievable to see it on something that belonged here of all places.

On the cover of the book, there lay the same symbols as some of the advanced transmutation circle seen in the anime he usually watched, but according to the book's title, they were called ancient runes?

Harry could look with awe as he picked up the book that seemed to weigh as much as him and browse through the book. His panicked state was gone and it didn't even matter that this strange shop looked like it belonged to some kind of cult anymore; the book was far more interesting that worrying about the situation he was in right now.

"This is AMAZING!" Harry exclaimed as the book explained how to arithmancy to design specific runes for certain purposes. He had noticed that in most of the transmutation circles he had seen, they almost looked empty. These runes might be the missing part of the circles from the book!

'_A lot of the basic symbols that I've been looking for are in here! This will be a lot easier to figure out those circles now_!' thought Harry. He was even more excited when he saw that the shelf that he had taken the book from had even more books on it with the same subject!

Unknown to Harry, his shout had attracted the attention of the witch at the counter who had come to see what all the commotion was about. When she got there, she expected to find some hooligan in her store again but was surprised to see a young boy with black hair and seemed almost drowning in clothes that looked several sizes too large for him.

None the less, she still had to discipline the young boy.

'_Muggleborn if I had to guess. Poor guy was able to get into the store despite the muggle ward and his clothing is lacking any semblance to wizarding attire,_' storekeeper thought.

Just as she was about to open her mouth the reprimand the young wizard, she was able to catch a glance at his forehead as some of the bangs covering them moved slightly; revealing a distinct lightning shaped scar.

The old witch could do nothing but stare at the scar that was the universal symbol for the boy-who-lived. She could only whisper two words,

"Harry Potter"

Harry has been so interested in the book that the outside world had almost disappeared to him. Sure, his subconscious might have registered that someone was approaching but he was far too interested in the book to even bother to look up.

However, as he heard his name called, it sent alarms in his head ringing. No one should really know his name in anywhere but Surrey and the stalker-like voice did not sound good at all.

"Who are you?" Harry questioned as he slowly got up and put his hands behind his back where he lightly clapped them; getting ready to transmute at a moment's notice.

"I'm honoured that you want to know my name, Mr. Potter!" the witch replied in an excited tone before continuing on. "I'm Stephanie Morgan and it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Thanks…?" Harry replied in a questioning tone. He was getting scared of this lady as the excitement that was bubbling inside her was becoming clearly visible as this woman muttered phrases that sounded like "I can't believe it!" and "I just want to eat the adorable thing up!".

"Oh, you're very quite welcome. Please tell me, is there anything I can help you with?" Stephanie replied, quite eager to help the young boy.

"Um, I was just looking at these books but I'm wondering how did you know my name?" Harry questioned, really wondering how she knew his name.

"Of course I would know your name! Who in the wizarding world wouldn't?" the witch replied.

"Wizarding world?" asked Harry, still confused about what the woman was saying.

"The world for witches and wizards…" Stephanie answered, hoping to get some form of acknowledgement from the young man.

"I'm sorry miss but I don't really understand. What are you talking about?" Harry once again asked. He was really getting tired of being treated like he knew nothing. Oddly enough though, that was the case.

"You have never heard of anything about this ever?" Stephanie asked, quite astonished at THE HARRY POTTER's lack of recognition to the world that he had saved when he was just a child.

Harry could shake his head to confirm the witch's fear that he had never heard about anything of the sort.

"So the rumour that you were raised by muggles was true then?" the woman asked.

"Muggles? What are those?" Harry questioned, never hearing of such a term.

"Why don't we sit down by the counter, Mr. Potter? This might take a while to explain and I think it might take some time. Personally, I would prefer to do it with a nice cup of tea." Stephanie answered as she motioned for Harry to follow her back to the counter.

Harry took the book that was tucked under his arm and slowly placed it back where had found it. He let the alchemical energy he had built up dissipate and soon followed.

Once they were seated at the counter, Stephanie began her lesson that would both terrify and intrigue the young boy.

"You see, magic is real and you are a wizard…"

Two hours later, the woman had finished telling a very abridged version of the history of the wizarding world to him, including his actions and even went into details of typical school life for children born in England, the ministry of magic, underage magic and how he would be receiving a Hogwarts letter by the time he turned eleven.

All throughout the conversation, Harry simply took in the information, trying to rid himself of any emotional turmoil that plagued his heart when his parents had been murdered, not in a car crash, and that the he had avenged them when he was only a child. How the greatest dark lord of the century was killed by an infant with no magical training was beyond him.

Throughout the lecture, Stephanie had proved what she said by taking out a stick that was referred to as a "wand" and giving him practical demonstrations by levitating the chair he sat on or turning his teacup into a rat. He didn't dare drink any tea from the cup after that.

From what he could understand, magic was simply what these people called the different energy source that he had felt. When he had asked Stephanie about the possibility of alchemy in the wizarding world, she just mentioned that it was just turning metal into gold and that it wasn't used by many.

After hearing her explanation and views of alchemy, Harry decided to keep quiet about his abilities until he learned more.

The hardest part of the lecture to understand was when Stephanie would start whispering about something concerning You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had no idea who she was bloody talk about!

It was almost fifteen minutes later that he had finally been able to coax a name out of her, even if it was for a few seconds and she had whispered in such a quite tone that he had been barely able to hear her.

Voldemort.

That was the name of his parents' killer and the reason why he was stuck living at the Dursleys. When he had heard of what Voldemort had done to his parents, anger and rage seemed to consume him. It was only knowing that Voldemort was gone that Harry was able to keep his temper in check.

"Do you think you can show me to this Diagon Alley that you were talking about? The one with all my money and books?" Harry asked, seeing as he had three more hours to wander around before he had to get back, it was the perfect opportunity to find out with the Dursleys being none the wiser.

"I can show you the entrance but I don't think I'll be able to accompany you the whole time. My boss would kill me if I left for more than fifteen minutes for a break." Stephanie answered, heartbroken that she couldn't stay with Harry longer or else she might get fired.

Harry only nodded in understanding as fifteen minutes was fifteen minutes more attention than he would have gotten from the Dursleys for anything he had ever wanted to do.

Stephanie and Harry exited the bookstore but not before Harry felt the tingle over his body as he crossed the threshold between that he knew now as the muggle world and a magical location.

Fortunately for them, the entrance to the Alley was in a pub called the Leaky Cauldron which was just down the street from the book store.

In what seemed like no time at all, they had arrived at the front door and was about to go in when Harry suddenly stopped and went into a small corner beside the pub and motioned Stephanie to follow.

Confused at the boy's actions, Stephanie followed.

"Do you think you could make a cap or something? The scar is a really big giveaway and I don't really want all the unwanted attention." Harry explained while pointing at his lightning shaped scar. Even though he could probably transmute one, Harry didn't wish to reveal his abilities to a stranger he had just met.

"It'll only last a few hours but it won't be much of a problem." Stephanie answered.

With a few wand movements and a quiet spell incantation, Harry was now the proud owner of a new blue cap that covered his scar quite nicely.

When the two entered the doorway to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry was once again under the effects of a tingling sensation. A quick look at his companion showed that either she had not felt it or just didn't show signs of feeling it.

Inside the pub, Harry observed his surroundings, making sure to take notice of possible tranmutations he could perform if the situation required him to. The pub was quite dark with only candles to provide light and Harry could practically choke on the smoke that was came from the various pipes that wizards were smoking and the constantly flaring fireplace as people came out of it. Various witches and wizards sat at tables around the room while reading newspapers that Harry was able to take glimpses at while he walked past them to the back door of the pub. He could see the title that read "The Daily Prophet" and pictures that actually moved. Along the back wall was a staircase leading to what Harry believed rooms for those who wished to stay overnight. Right beside the backdoor that they were heading for was a bar table with a man cleaning drinking glasses behind it with a ragged old towel.

"Ah, Ms. Morgan, how are you today?" asked the man behind the counter.

"Fine, thanks Tom, just visiting the alley." Stephanie answered.

Tom. That was the name of the barkeeper and Harry made sure not forget that name as they passed through the back door. He might be useful later on since he was probably a good source of information if he needed any questions answered later on.

"Have a nice day you two!" Tom greeted before the back door closed on them.

With a few hits of her wand, the bricks that had been in front of them slowly revealed to them Diagon Alley.

"All I can do is take you here. I still need to head back." The witch explained.

"Thanks a lot, Ms. Morgan, I won't forget this." Harry replied.

"Now, the bank to get your money is that tall, white, marble building to the centre of the Alley over there. It's called Gringotts and just tell any Goblin there you want to make a withdrawal and you should be good. Of course, they'll be using your blood to test who you are since you don't have your vault key. You understand?" Stephanie enquired, making sure that Harry would be okay.

"Yeah, I can't really appreciate this enough Ms. Morgan. I just wish I could somehow repay you…" Harry replied.

"Nonsense, it's more like I'm repaying you for getting rid of You-Know-Who! But there is one thing…" drawled Stephanie as a blush began to spread across her cheeks.

"What is it?" Harry questioned, eager to repay the kind woman for what she did for him.

"I know that this is embarrassing for me to ask of you but… but…." The young lady stuttered and continued to do so.

"Yes?" Harry prompted.

"Can I please have your autograph?" she cried out. "I know that I'm acting quite foolish, but I'm still a huge fan of yours and would really like one!"

"Um, sure." Harry responded, not sure how to respond to something like that. This is definitely a first for him.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Potter" Stephanie said as she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and handed them to Harry.

"No problem," Harry said before looking at the quill with an incredulous look that clearly showed he was hoping that she was joking. When she still hadn't done anything, he simply handed back the quill and pulled out a ball-point pen from his bag and signed his name and a small thank you message for the witch all the while muttering something about old fashioned quills.

With the autograph done, Stephanie left back to the store in a hurry, leaving Harry alone to walk to the bank.

As he made his way to Gringotts, he noticed that looks that he got from certain people. While Stephanie had looked at him like the next best thing since slice bread, these people, especially a very feminine blond man with a serpent cane, sent him looks that would make his Uncle Vernon proud. He only needed to hear the word mudblood to know that these were the purebloods that Stephanie had warned him about.

As he made his way inside the bank, he couldn't help but stare at what laid before him. If he had to guess, the bank resembled some of the Swiss banks that he had once been able to see on the telly while Dudley had been preoccupied.

The floors were made of white marble and everything looked so clean that you could almost eat of the floor. The only difference was the curious and scary creatures that ran the place were very different to the humans that ran the Swiss banks on the telly.

'_Goblins_' Harry reminded himself, remembering what Stephanie had said before.

Making his way to one the tellers, he stood at the back a line to wait for his turn at the teller. Harry noted the line next to the one he was at appeared to be a family of red-heads with two children about his age, one boy and one girl and two parents.

With such close proximity, Harry was able to hear snatches of their conversation as Harry listened in to learn what normal magical folk talked about.

"Ron, you still haven't washed your face this morning have you?" The person Harry believed was the mom reprimanded her son.

"Geroff mom!" the son, who Harry knew was called Ron, cried out as his mother tried to wipe some dirt of his nose.

A small giggle could be heard as the young girl laughed at her brother's displeasure and embarrassment but not before adding more fuel to the fire.

"You know Ron, if you keep that up, that smudge might stay there forever!" the young witch said between her laughter.

"Oh shut up Ginny!" Ron replied as his mother finally let up and decided that he had been cleaned enough.

"You know that smudge is always there because you eat like a pig right?" Ginny retorted.

"Ron, Ginny, stop this bickering this instant! If you don't behave, we won't go to that new toy store that opened besides Ollivanders!" the person who Harry assumed to be the father said in a hushed tone so that while the order was strict it would barely be heard by those outside the group of four.

"But…but Dad! They have the new Harry Potter storybook there and I've been waiting forever to get it!" cried Ginny.

Harry's body seemed to freeze at the mention of his name. '_HARRY POTTER storybook?_' To make sure that he hadn't misheard, he made sure that nothing was in his ear before returning to the conversation!

"Who cares about the story book? He's going to be my classmate at Hogwarts anyway! He and I will be great friends and go on adventures that put your stupid books to shame!" Ron replied, eager to get back at his sister's previous comment.

"Oh yeah, He and I will be married and I'll be Mrs. Potter and we'll live happily ever after in a huge mansion and protect me from dragons and evil wizards and we'll die old together while loving each other forever!" Ginny shouted back.

'_You have got to be kidding me! This is what these kids think of me, some hero and adventurer that fight freak'n dragons of all things for people I don't even know?!_' Harry thought in a panic.

Harry's body simply froze at that moment as his mind tried to acknowledge what had just been said. Strangely enough, the shock of learning the world's expectations of his was a bigger shock than learning that he was a wizard! Learning that he had the ability to manipulate this new energy source that was like alchemy had been easily accepted but this was something else!

He had been so shocked at this revelation that he had barely heard the goblin shout for him to move up to the front of the line. It was only when the goblin shouted his name for the third time that he heard that he was being called for and started to make his way up to the front.

'_Note to self: avoid those kids at all costs!'_ Harry warned himself for the future. The attention and hero-worship for something he didn't even remember doing was really starting to scare him.

"What can I do for you human?" the goblin asked as he eyed Harry's clothes with distaste.

"I need to access a vault but I don't have the key, you see Mr. Goblin sir" Harry replied while he squirmed under the direct gaze of the goblin.

The goblin simply nodded in understanding and pulled out a small box from underneath the counter. The goblin then placed it in front of Harry and opened it up, revealing a key mould.

"Simply put a drop of blood and a state your name and your new key will be ready while the old one is gotten rid of." The goblin said in a bored tone.

"Yes, sir." Harry replied as he bit his finger and placed a drop of blood into the mould while he stated his name in a whispered tone so that only the goblin and he could hear it to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

At the mention of his name, Harry would have noticed that goblin's eyes go wide before sitting straighter, making it look like he was eager to serve him instead of the bored form that he sat with before.

However, all Harry noticed was a slight tingling feeling as his blood reacted with magic in the box and a new vault key was made from the blood that he had deposited into the box.

Thousands of miles away from Harry's location, a small key that could be found in Albus Dumbledore's desk drawer at Hogwarts slowly vanished into nothing with the headmaster being none the wiser. Of course, there would a mass panic when he found out that the key was missing and no type of spell he used was able to locate it, but that wouldn't be for some time.

With a new vault key created, the goblin at the counter crouched down and whispered something to a passing goblin that Harry had not noticed before. After a few words were whispered between the two, the goblin at the counter spoke up.

"Griphook will lead you to your trust fund Mr. Potter." The goblin said before getting ready for the next person in line.

"Thanks" Harry replied and followed Griphook, too interested in keeping up with the goblin that had already walked a fair distance despite its short legs to notice that the goblin at the counter seem shocked to be thanked.

The trip down to the vaults had been too short for Harry's liking. The ride was the closest thing that he had ever experience to a roller coaster and he loved every minute of it. Griphook could only look puzzled as he had no idea on how to react to a human who actually liked the nauseating trip that had sent most purebloods vomiting once they got off the trolley.

Once the pair had reached the vault, Harry was again surprised to see the amount of money that awaited him. Gold, silver and bronze coins laid in large piles that seem to tower over him. He feared that if he made a loud enough noise, he could probably scream avalanche and the coins would rush down onto him.

Griphook also explained that the amount for Hogwarts had been already paid; the money in the vault was for any possible supplies that he might need.

In the vault, there were also several briefcases of what appeared to be muggle money.

When Harry asked about those, Griphook had replied that it was his mother's idea since she wanted to be able to shop in the muggle world as well.

Inwardly, Harry thanked his mother for this as he could imagine how hard it would be to buy muggle items if he were to pay in gold, silver and/or bronze coins. He would most probably be taken in by the police and questioned if he had to guess, and unwanted attention was to be avoided at all costs.

With the money bag that had been provided by Griphook, Harry slowly gathered several coins and bills that he was sure would be able to provide him with enough money for whatever he might need in the future. To be safe, Harry even hid money all over his body so that in case his money bag was taken from him, he would still have back-ups. Griphook merely stared at the odd behaviour but chose not to comment.

When Harry had finally finished, the pair soon made their way back to the foyer of the bank where they went their separate ways, but not before Harry thanked Griphook and gave a galleon as a tip for his services. Harry continued to leave the bank and thus, was not able to see the disbelieving look on Griphook's face.

As Harry left the bank, he was experiencing one of the happiest moments of his life. This was the first time that he had been able to claim something of his and by the look of what laid inside his vault, he didn't have to feel penniless or worthless anymore when his relatives insulted him as such. Had this school trip not been free, he wouldn't have been able to come!

'_Though obviously, I'm definitely not telling those money-grubbers anything about this._' Harry thought.

The only downside to this point was that he still had to live with the Dursleys despite the fact that he could probably get his own place. Harry's logic was simple, he was still underage and without obtaining a guardian, things could become troublesome for him. But that aside, life was good!

So content in his thoughts that he had completely missed the change in atmosphere as the shops and people alike started to appear shadier and the sky seemed to disappear as it got dark.

Little did he know it, Harry had just stepped into Knockturn Alley dressed up in a muggle fashion. Worse yet, a trio of very drunk purebloods had just spotted him and were slowly getting to ready to have some fun with the poor boy.

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**AN:** YES, 15 pages of writing done! I know a lot of you will probably be mad at me for ending it just when I got it ready for a possible fight scene but after so much writing, I really wanted to get this chapter out.

And I know that this is a ridiculously long flashback (it's not even done yet) but I finally got the whole "Harry learns that he's a wizard" arc done and continue the Diagon Alley trip where he buys all the cool things or something.

The first appearance of the Weasley's were also in this too! Personally, I never really liked Ron, who was pretty much a selfish prat most of the time, and Ginny, who never really liked Harry for who he was instead of what he was. There are some fanfics that actually do some good HG and the movie did a pretty good job of it but the book just killed the pairing for me. Though if you want her to be a bit more less of a fangirl, just leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

For those who are wondering why there were only FOUR members of our favourite red-headed family, the reason is because Harry's on a SCHOOL field trip. That means the school year is currently in progress and the remaining members are either in Hogwarts or at work.

There are also some people who might think that Harry is going to become too powerful but don't worry! The fact is (and I still don't know how Rowling thought this would work) Harry is a young teenager who hasn't even completed his magical education while Voldemort has a completed Hogwarts curriculum, the dark arts, wandless magic when he was a kid, a large gathering of faithful followers (the Death Eaters), enough money from the purebloods to bribe everyone in the ministry twice, AND over 50 years of experience of duels and fighting that Harry lacks. I need to even the playing field somehow you know?

As for the next chapter, I hope I don't disappoint but please look forward to it! Until then, let your imagination roam free (though if you have any ideas, please mention them because this is still my first time and I can only go so far with this until I hit a block)

PLZ RATE AND REVIEW! ALL COMMENTS AND IDEAS WELCOME!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

'_thoughts'_-thinking

"speaking" -speaking

**AN: **This is it! The end of the flashback that has taken over 25 pages to complete! I'm sorry if I've kept some of you waiting but here it is!

**Chapter 5**:

Harry had been so preoccupied with his thoughts and the possible items that he could buy that he had completely taken no notice of his surroundings. His concentration was so deep that he failed to notice when he bumped through a trio of robe wearing wizards that had been in his way. The trio on the other hand, couldn't help but take notice of the young boy.

"Hey, brat! Who do you think you are?! Mudblood trash like you should make way for us purebloods!" one member of the trio said.

If looked closely enough, the man appeared to be in his late 30s with short, ruffled black hair with brown eyes. He, like the other two men, towered over the young boy and a scent of alcohol seemed to radiate from his mouth as he talked.

When Harry just continued to walk, the anger of the wizards just rose even more.

"Being ignored by some filth that shouldn't even be allowed to grace himself with our presences?! As if I'll let that happen!" The second member of the group muttered with a low tone of voice which eventually rose to great heights. His dark-blue robed hand moved to grab the young offending boy; he was going to make sure the boy realized what he had done wrong!

Harry's thoughts were suddenly returned to reality when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. It was only then that he realized that those men had been talking to him!

'_Great, drunk idiots are angry at me for some reason. When Uncle Vernon gets like this, it's not pretty but maybe if they're drunk enough these guys will just start hallucinating?' _Harry thought.

Harry smiled at one of the rare times that he had survived Uncle Vernon's temper when he was drunk. By making a wooden dummy of himself with alchemy while his uncle continued to chug down another bottle, oblivious to the flash of light or the slight change in his nephew's appearance. He had escaped the lecture and punches that his uncle had inflicted upon his substitute. The best part was when he returned the wooden dummy back into a chair just as Uncle Vernon had chugged another bottle and Aunt Petunia and Dudley had walked back. The two were able witness Uncle Vernon talking to a chair. The best part was that in the morning, Uncle Vernon blamed the alcohol for his pains he obtained when he tried to hit the wooden dummy!

The third wizard must have seen the smile because his temper seemed to have burst and went over.

"The little git is laughing at us! Why don't we show him why his little tainted magic is no match for our pure magic? What do you guys say? Baddock? Pritchard?" the third wizard chuckled evilly.

"I think that's a good idea, Rosier. Let's teach the little piece of sh*t some manners for his betters!" Baddock replied, his grip tight on Harry's shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" Harry replied is a slightly nervous tone. These three men seemed really mad with him for some reason and with his non-existent magical knowledge; he would lose badly if these three men started a fight.

'_Why isn't there anyone stopping this?! This is child abuse right?!_' Harry thought angrily but when he looked around, he finally noticed the shadier environment that he had entered. The streets were no longer lit up by sunlight and it seemed the shinning sun seemed to be completely blocked out by old, worn-down buildings that surrounded him. Even the nice brick road that he had been following had been replaced with a dirt path crowded by beggars and shady characters. Heck, he was the only kid on the entire street! The looks of the bystanders that walked past them immediately he was definitely not going to get any help from them. It looked like he was all by himself on this one.

This was not going to be pretty.

Unfortunately for Harry, his apologies fell on deaf ears as the purebloods were too drunk and too angry to let Harry go unpunished. Harry's eyes widened when the three men began pulling out wands from their robe pockets, making him squirm even harder to desperately try to escape the iron hold that his captors had on him.

Perhaps luck was on his side, when Rosier's grip on his clothing slipped for a moment and he dropped on the floor. With instincts honed from Dudley hunting, Harry landed on his feet and began sprinting back the way he had come, hoping to return to Diagon Alley.

"Get him boys! Don't let that mudblood escape! We still have to get him to teach him that lesson!" Rosier shouted.

'_Even though they're drunk, they can sure run pretty well._' Harry unfortunately noticed as he tried to find people to weave through and act as obstacles for his pursuers, but most seeing the chase, simply pressed against the wall to avoid getting involved.

"He's over there! We have a clear course between him and us! Shoot him down!" Rosier once again ordered, making Harry believe that he was the leader of the group.

Harry continued to run in the direction he hoped was the right way but could hear shouts behind him as his pursuers continued. He seriously hoped he was right because all the buildings looked just as old and broken as the previous one and there were no signs to be seen that could possibly help him. The only indication that he was heading the right way was when the dirt road slowly began to become the familiar brick road that he had seen before.

'_From the looks of it, they've started using spells. I'm in trouble now!'_ Harry thought. He could tell that spells were beginning to approach him as his shadow on the dirt path began to lengthen as a result from the light of the spells.

Just as Harry began to clap his hands and accumulate energy to create a stone wall from the floor to defend him, a weird feeling began to cover him. It was the same feeling that he had felt when he walked through the doors of the bookstore and the Leaky Cauldron!

Suddenly, Harry could feel the spells as it entered what he thought was a sixth sense. The tingling sensation in his brain told him that the spells were currently a few feet away from him and it would hit him if he didn't dodge right ….

'_NOW'_ Harry screamed in his mind as ducked towards the floor as the spells flung over him and would have hit him had he not gone under.

Before he could take a rest and take pleasure in the fact he was able to dodge those spells, the tingling feeling that he had experienced told him that more spells were coming and he needed to move. NOW.

As Harry dashed forward, several spells hit the spot he had been in moments before, pieces of the brick road flying up and hitting the people all around the explosion.

Rubbing the dust out of his eyes after the explosion, Harry got up to look up and began to run before he noticed that his path was blocked by a large pile of rubble that he believed were the remains of the arch that the previous spells had hit.

Having no other choice, Harry back-tracked and took the last corridor he had seen while the pursuers continued to reduce the distance between the them.

'_Why are they slowing down?'_ Harry wondered as he noticed that he started to feel less spells coming his way.

'_Either they gave up, which I doubt, or -'_ the young alchemist slowed down and his eyes widened in horror as he finally noticed that he had entered a dead end! The brick walls that made up the alley seemed impossibly high, and Harry doubted that he would be able to climb or jump over them. No wonder they stopped chasing him, there was no where he could run!

With little time to waste, Harry clapped his hands and took power from what he considered his alchemist energy reserves and placed them on one of the offending walls.

"If there's no door, just make your own!" he shouted as he distinctly remembered Ed's quote.

A flash of light could be seen as the section of the wall in front of Harry turned into a set of beautiful doors. With quick haste, he pulled open the doors by their nice, curved metal handles, eager to escape the wizards that were slowly entering the dark alleyway that he was in.

As he opened the doors, he came face to face with what he could only described as a chimera! The creature had the head of the eagle with the body of a lion but on its back unfolded two feathery wings that seemed to shine in the darkness. Behind the large chimera that easily stood two meters tall, were smaller version of the beast that looked like its children.

Surprised by the sudden interruption by Harry and believing that Harry had come for its young like the people who had captured it once tried, it attacked with its claws while its beak aimed for the young man's head.

"Holy -" Harry cursed as his trained reflexes from hours of Harry Hunting kicked in and jumped back while quickly shut the doors. With the creature still trying to get Harry by ramming the door, he clapped his hands and reformed the brick wall.

"So the rat finally notices he's been trapped, hasn't he?" teased someone behind him.

Harry felt dread and fear overcome him as he slowly turned around to see the drunken trio right behind him with their wands raised and pointed to him.

"Time to show him the difference between us!" Baddock shouted, followed by a shout of "Reducto!"

When the spell released and was about five meters away, Harry's senses told him that the spell wouldn't hit him and actually miss him by a few inches to his left. It was the barrage of spells behind this one could pose a problem.

Pushing all his strength into his legs, Harry dashed forward to close the distance between the two parties.

As Harry dashed forward, the Reducto spell barely missed him but as he ran past it, he felt the tingling sensation again.

'But it's different from the previous ones I've felt before! Now that I think about it, each spell seems to have its own feeling…' Harry thought but before he could ponder more about the subject, he was forced to duck and roll from another barrage of spells.

The distance between the two parties were soon non-existent but the drunks were too busy shooting spells to notice that fact until Harry had leaped in the air and had jumped into the slightly-triangle formation that they had formed.

Without wasting any time, Harry clapped his hands while he was still in air before coming landing between the members and placing them on the stone floor that they all stood under.

With a flash a light that left the trio blinded for several seconds, giant rock pillars seemed to extend from the ground and sped towards them with a speed that their slow reflexes could do nothing about.

All three members of the trio were lifted off their feet as the pillars ploughed into their stomachs with such force that took the breath out of their lungs.

The pillars continued to grow until Baddock and Pritchard were slammed against the walls; their wands dropping from their hands and could be heard clattering on the stone wall. The force of the blow seemed to be too much as they lost consciousness after they had been hit against the alley wall from the stone pillars.

While those two had been hit against the walls, Rosier had been in the center of the triangle in the alley and as thus, couldn't be pinned against a wall. Instead, he had been lifted nearly two meters in the air and thrown back a good distance back.

Harry slowly stood up from his previous crouched position and his deep pants could be easily heard. Adrenaline rushed through his system as his ears continue to pound.

"I don't think I've ever done a transmutation this extensive or huge" Harry commented as he looked at his surroundings to see the work of his transmutation.

Harry could only whistle in awe as he viewed his work. When he had first learned alchemy, the tiny stone fist that had made was the limit to all he could. He had fallen asleep once he had he touched his cot, too tired to do anymore. For the past few months, he had expanded what he had deemed his alchemic energy reservoir so that his body could handle the stress of transmutations. Everyday, he would push himself to the limit until he could barely stand and his progress what was laid before him. He had been correct when he believed that his reserves acted like a muscle, he just needed to train it for it to grow larger.

'_Sure, I'm no where near Ed's level, but I'm getting there'_ Harry thought to himself with a sense of pride. A transmutation of this magnitude would have left him in a coma had he performed it months ago but at his current level, he could still return the alley back to normal and still be able to a few more transmutations.

Something that Harry noticed when he was practicing transmutations was that the distance needed for the alchemical energy to travel seemed to sap his reserves. By getting close enough to the fools, he was able to the transmutation much less tiring than it would have been had he done it from a distance.

Hoping to erase evidence of his transmutations, Harry slowly clapped his aching hands and placed them on the ground. The pillars that pinned the two wizards to the alley retracted back into the group. The wizards fell with to the floor with a sickening crunch and Harry was sure that they wouldn't be getting up soon.

Just in case, Harry saw the wands of the two wizards and kicked them away from the bodies since they seemed harmless. To further his safety, Harry placed his hands together and then on the robes of the two wizards, transmuting the cloth robe into something that resembles a strait jacket so they wouldn't be able to harm him if they woke up.

As Harry finished with the strait jackets, his senses blared in his mind as he felt more spells approaching him! Without time to waste, he rolled to his side as the spell past him by mere inches.

'_What the? They had reinforcements?!_' Harry panicked as he thought of his situation. If more wizards had come to aid their fallen comrades, he was in real trouble.

The spells didn't stop coming and Harry was continually forced to dodge, not sure his body could handle much more of this.

"Please, keep dancing little monkey, it won't be long until you're mine." His attacker told him in a sinister tone.

With the few seconds he had, Harry looked up to see who had continued to attack him and was surprised to see Rosier staring back at him!

'_But that's impossible! The force of the impact should have left him unconscious for hours to come!_' Harry thought with a panic, trying to find out what had gone wrong.

His confusion must have showed on his face because it Rosier had stopped his barrage of spells from a moment.

"Let me show you something." Rosier explained. With his other hand, he opened his robe to reveal a highly disfigured vest that seemed to compose of scales.

"This vest is made of the pure 100% Hungarian Horntail dragon scales. It's able to reduce the damage effect of magical and physical attacks alike. It's going to take a lot more than a little punch to take me down." Rosier smiled when he saw that Harry's expression seemed to turn to horror when he had heard the explanation.

"Now let's end this, Reducto!" Rosier screamed and sent the spell heading towards the young boy. He smiled when he noticed that the body had no where to turn as pieces of rubble from his stray spells blocked any possible place in could run to.

Little did Rosier know, Harry had always been a good actor. It was one of the skills he had picked up from living with the Dursleys and it had saved him more than he could count. This time was one of those situations.

'_Idiot, no one talks this much in a fight! Though I have to admit, that certainly explains things_' Harry inwardly said while he tried to show a face of horror. Rosier had been so distracted by his gloating that he didn't notice that Harry had slowly clapped his hands.

When Rosier's spell approached him, Harry quickly placed them on the ground. Electrical sparks seemed to fly as a stone wall appeared from the floor to intercept the spell that was headed Harry's way.

The results of the wall and spell could be called nothing short of explosive. Dust and pieces of rock flew into air and the dust was so thick that both parties lost visibility of each other and could only wait for the dust to clear up to see the other party's condition.

"Darn that brat!" Rosier coughed as he inhaled more dust. His wand was ready and when the dust settled, that kid was going down.

As time passed, the dust began to settle and Rosier could make some sort of outline in the dust but paused to make sure it was the kid so that he wouldn't waste anymore energy.

That pause was a mistake that he would definitely regret later on.

When dust fully settled, Rosier was treated to a sight that he had not idea had come about. The young boy that he had been chasing leaned against a giant cannon of all things!

Before he could even shout a spell, a loud boom could be heard as the cannon fired a large metal ball at the surprised wizard, sending him flying out of the alley and into the wall outside the alleyway. Cracks seemed to spread across the wall from the intensity of the hit. Shoppers who had seem the man crash into the wall began fleeing, not wanting to get involved in fear of their lives.

Rosier felt pain all over his body! Even with the vest, he was pretty sure that most of the bones in his wand hand and left leg were broken! Worst of all, his beautiful dragonstring wand laid crushed under the cannonball!

'_That brat is going to pay!_' Rosier thought angrily before his face filled with fear as he saw another cannonball heading at him.

The cannonball hit Rosier with even more ferocity than the previous, knocking him unconscious and spreading even more cracks in the wall behind him.

Inside the alleyway, Harry leaned against the cannon panting. Those last transmutations had taken almost everything he had! He just was lucky that Rosier had decided to gloat so that he had enough time to formulate his plan. He wiped sweat of his face and stood there for what seemed like hours trying to catching his breath.

When he was sure that he could manage it, he clapped his hands and reverted his previous transmutations, much easier to do than making them in the first place. He started to slowly walking out of the alleyway and back onto the main street where he took one last look at Rosier and smirked.

'_Don't mess with me_' Harry thought as he continued to trek past Rosier's limp form.

Harry turned and found that the arch that he had previously destroyed and blocked his way had been fixed and what appeared to a few minutes walk was the gate that he had entered to get here. Walking past the people who tried to cower in the shadows, he made the exit and decided to leave Diagon Alley before he attracted unwanted attention.

It was only an hour later that the aurors appeared to investigate the loud noises that the people near the entrance of Knockturn Alley had reported. What they eventually found were three unconscious purebloods with one being severely hurt.

When these wizards were questioned later on, they would report that they were attacked by a muggle-born too young to have started Hogwarts and who had used advanced wandless magic to subdue each of them. Since there were not witnesses, as everyone had run away, and that the muggle-born couldn't be found anywhere near the scene, the case was soon closed. The wizards were charged for their destruction of property and blamed for their careless spellcasting while drunk.

Harry slowly walked back to the street where his school bus waited. He had taken some time to transmute his clothes back to normal so that his teachers and classmates would remain ignorant of the injuries he obtained during his fight. He also noticed that his transfigured hat began to vanish into nothing.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, late again are we? You're lucky that you arrived just in time, we were almost going to leave without you! Did you have fun?" Mr. Wong teased as Harry came into view.

"Definitely" Harry smirked before entering back into the bus and falling asleep right away on the seat, too tired from the various transmutations to continue staying awake.

"That's everyone! Let us get going then, shall we?" Ms. Boy asked before the bus started its engines and proceeded back.

**End flashback**

After such an exciting adventure, Harry continued to ponder his thoughts as he realized the possibilities that were now open to him.

'_I know that the Dursleys don't know that I know about the magical world. I can use this against them and they would be none the wiser._' He thought and smiled at the idea of implementing such a plan and couldn't wait to see the reactions of his relatives.

As Harry continued to think about potential schemes he could get up to, he played with his money bag, already loving the feeling of being able to own something. Since he also had muggle money with him, he could easily catch a bus to Diagon Alley instead of walking to the library. As long he got back before his curfew, he was alright.

Harry practically drooled at the prospect of so many books. The keys that he needed to figure out the remaining alchemy circles were in those texts, and they eagerly called to him.

'_The problem will be hiding them…_' Harry pondered but decided that he think about later on as he his top priority was to improve his current life.

While thinking about the topic of using threat of his knowledge of the magical people to scare the Dursleys, Harry was once again reminded of the new energy source that these witches and wizards had called "magic".

'_Technically, magic defies pretty much every rule of alchemy._' Harry thought with a frown as he remembered some of the things he had seen on his trip.

'_On the other hand, magic felt like a different energy compared to alchemy so I guess they can't really be compared. Alchemy has its own rules while magic has its own set._' Harry concluded, happy to avoid any crisis about his ideals shattering because of this new discovery.

'_Crap! That means I'll have to start training my magic reserves with my alchemical ones!_' Harry thought before he reprimanded himself.

'_I should be grateful for having another energy source to practice! The question is how do you practice magic? I don't have a wand like Stephanie or those other wizards did…_' Harry contemplated before remembering the tingling sensation that he had felt when he had made his trip to the magical world.

Now that he thought about it, he had felt a small tingling sensation the entire time that he had been in the magical world! He had just been too excited to even notice, only the stronger tingles that were spells were the ones that he had been "feel".

'_If I can get that feeling again, I might be able to do the same thing as my alchemic reserves and expand them!_' Harry thought with excitement.

Harry began to lie down in a comfortable position and entered the same state of mind that when he drew upon his alchemic energy. He could feel a slight tingle that seemed different to the alchemic energy that he had been used to. When he felt that he had a good grasp on it, he tried to mimic the sensation of the levitation spell that he had felt when Stephanie had levitated Harry's chair.

Harry opened his eyes as he changed the tingling sensation to match the one he had just remembered and concentrated it on the small wooden ball he had transmuted moments before.

Sweat began to roll down along the sides of his face as Harry had his complete focus on the wooden ball and redirecting the energy that was "magic" to the ball. The problem was that the magical energy seemed so much more difficult to control than his alchemic energy did! It felt wild and tried to escape every time his control slightly weakened.

With a deep grunt, Harry finally forced the magical energy on the ball and was surprised to see that the ball was only floating a centimetre or two above his hands!

'_This sucks! All my energy and I can only lift it a few centimetres up?!_' Harry thought with outrage but inwardly, he was still glad that he was able to accomplish such a task on his first try. His training with alchemical energy had made it much easier than he supposed it would have been without it.

Harry's thoughts were soon cut short as darkness started to invade his vision and Harry fell on his caught. His last thoughts before he was knocked out were '_Not this again._'

"Wake up boy! Time to make breakfast!"

Harry woke up to this screeching as his Aunt Petunia repeated the order again and unlocked his cupboard before making her way to the kitchen.

'_I have got to stop blacking out. It's annoying._' Harry thought as he got ready to leave his cupboard to do his chores but not before the ceiling of his cupboard literally shook as his cousin made his down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Harry could only sigh at his cousin's actions.

"I don't even want to think what would happen if I didn't have alchemy." Harry muttered as he had transmuted his cupboard ceiling to be more durable structure and better material. Had he not done this, Harry feared that he would be crushed by his cousin's and uncle's weight when one day either of them went up the stairs and fell straight through … onto him.

Harry cringed at the thought as he made his way into the kitchen where he began his preparations for breakfast. His Uncle Vernon was already at the table drinking away a cup of coffee while reading his paper, and Dudley was waiting for food as he watched the telly. His aunt, on the other hand, was …

"Hurry up and make that bacon, you idiot boy!"

…right behind him and watching his every move.

Harry went to the stove to prepare the breakfast for his relatives and continued to do so. It was only a few minutes that he started to speak up.

"Um, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia…" Harry started, waiting for a response from his relatives.

"What is it now boy, you're wasting my time." Uncle Vernon replied behind his newspaper. His Aunt Petunia remained silent, letting her husband deal with matter.

"On the field trip yesterday," Harry started.

"A waste of good money if you ask me" Uncle Vernon responded.

"Well there was this strange looking woman who approached me." Harry continued to explain and thought of the lie he was using to scare his relatives.

"Any why didn't you go with her?" Uncle Vernon asked grumpily. If his nephew had been kidnapped, life would be good!

"Well, she was dressed like a witch and …" Harry said as he flipped the bacon over.

Behind him, he could hear his Uncle Vernon spit out his coffee which completely drenched his newspaper while his Aunt Petunia gasped. Trying to pretend and remain ignorant of his relatives' reactions, he continued.

"She told me to tell you two that they were watching." Harry finished his reply, making sure to make an emphasis on the word, "they". He tried not to laugh as the line sounded like it came from some cheesy horror film.

"And…and…and what happened after that boy?" Uncle Vernon stuttered, his face going deathly pale at the consequences.

"She just left and turned the corner. When I tried to find out what she meant, she was no where to be found! It was like she disappeared!" Harry explained, inwardly rolling on the floor laughing at his relatives' faces which had gone deathly pale with an expression that looked as if he had just cancelled Christmas.

"Boy! Get back to your cupboard now!" Uncle Vernon commanded. Surprisingly enough, he also repeated the same message to Dudley, and while he didn't want to stop watching the telly, he didn't want to upset his father either.

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Back at his cupboard, Harry sat still as he strained his ears to hear the words of his relatives' conversation. All he could hear were phrases like "they're watching him" and "what if they found out that he's…", but based on the general tone of their voices, there were SCARED. At least, Aunt Petunia sounded scared while his Uncle Vernon seemed to have a depressed tone.

Moments later, Harry and Dudley were called from their respective rooms, if Harry's could be called that, and met in the kitchen.

"Now boys, I think that it's time that Harry got a new room seeing as the cupboard is getting too small for him. We've decided give him Dudley's second bedroom" Aunt Petunia told them in a nervous voice while her eyes darted left and right as if expecting this scene to watched from the shadows.

Dudley's response to the loss of his room was quick as he shouted his complaints, "But mom! Why should the freak get my second room? I need the room for my stuff! He'll probably infect everything with his freakishness!"

"We can move your stuff to the attic and we'll buy you even more things for you to play with, okay darling?" Aunt Petunia said, trying to appease Dudley without explaining as to why this was happening. Uncle Vernon remained silent, obviously against such an idea but could do nothing as watched everything unfold.

"Okay." Dudley replied, happy that he was getting more stuff and the loss of his second bedroom completely forgotten.

"Gather your stuff boy and move to your new room already boy!" Aunt Petunia commanded in a strict tone. Even though he was getting a bigger living space, Harry knew that respect would be something he would never get.

Happy that his plan worked, Harry gathered up his few meagre possessions and proceeded to his new bedroom.

'With this, I can at least hide some of the books and the best part is, Uncle Vernon won't hit me since he's too afraid of the consequences. Of course, I won't taunt him though; I'm not an idiot. Harry thought as entered his new room.

Life was looking good for him and if Harry played his cards right, it could only get better.

**AN:** And that my friends is it! Harry's first encounter with the magical world and his first battle!

I know that there are some people who might think that he's too strong right now but don't worry! His growth will be NORMAL. It's not like he'll be casting mastery level magic wandlessly anytime soon. Plus, his reserves for both styles still need to be build up! Also, he might have been able to beat up three fully trained wizards BUT you must remember that they were drunk, it gave Harry a bit more fighting chance.

I'm sorry if some people are unhappy with the scare/bluff tactic that Harry used while I'm sure that some of you expected him to completely blow his relatives away with his amazing alchemy skills didn't you? Well, the thing I see with that is that no matter how fast Harry is, he's still vulnerable to things like poison and bullets! If the Dursleys start to see him as a threat, they could easily slip something in his water or food that will leave him dead. Another possibility is that they get a gun and shoot him! Harry might be able to defend himself while he's awake but what about when he's sleeping? In addition, I don't think that even Harry can dodge bullets (maybe someday)! So, sorry if you were upset about that turn of events but I prefer to stick with a more realistic situation.

There were also some points raised about the other chapter that I'll address now. Why is there a magical bookstore in the middle of a muggle street? Well, the answer is that it's still in walking distance of the Leaky Cauldron so that even wizards can access it if they want to. Plus, I doubt that Diagon Alley has enough room for an unlimited amount of shops, so having a store outside the Alley is still better than nothing. Another question was the surprise on the goblins' face when they were thanked. My reasoning for that is that they never expected someone with access to the deeper and older vaults (which is mainly includes purebloods) would give them any respect as purebloods tend to belittle them.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Even though I've updated pretty quickly this time (in my opinion anyway) I'm sorry to say that they will be less frequent as the school year starts and things begin to get more hectic. Sorry about that but please look forward to the next chapter!

For those who are getting impatient with Harry not being at Hogwarts, don't worry, he'll make it there (eventually)!

**PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or FMA because Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.

'_thoughts'_ -thinking

"speaking" -speaking

**-Chapter Start-**

5 months after getting his new room, young Harry could be found quietly whistling as he made his way to the bus station.

'_I can finally get back to visit Diagon Alley!'_ Harry thought excitedly as he prevented himself from skipping. Happiness seemed to radiate from him and people that saw him could swear that there was a small aura of light surrounding him, but when they rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't hallucinating, it was gone!

School has recently just let out and thus, allowing Harry to finally enjoy his summer the way he wanted. In addition, his classes that he took while helping at the library had also just finished, leaving Harry free of any responsibilities except the chores that his relatives gave him. Of course, with a bit of alchemy, the chores were quickly done in a matter of seconds. Paint a fence? No problem, just splash paint, transmute it to spread the entire fence and done. Since his relatives left him all alone while they either went to work, to gossip with the neighbours at a tea party or to do drugs, they never knew what he had done.

'_And as long as I get back in time like I always do, I'll be safe!'_ Harry reflected.

With his money safely tucked away in his jeans pocket and a newly transmuted cap on his head that hid his distinct scar and pushed his bangs down to further his disguise, he was ready to embrace the wizarding world again.

'_Just have to make sure that no one finds out who I am, don't want to see the reactions of what people would do if they found. Those two kids were scary enough'_ Harry grimaced as he remembered the red-headed children that seemed to have something close to an obsession for him. It was just terrifying thinking about it!

As he reached his destination that was the bus stop, Harry came to a stop to get some of his muggle money to pay for the fare. To him, this was a first as he had never really handled money before and savoured the feeling.

Moments later, the smell of gasoline and sounds of a roaring engine indicated that the bus had arrived and now waited for him to get on. Once he boarded the bus after paying the fare to the bus driver, he quickly took a window seat and sat down.

There was really nothing special about the passengers. There were a few teenagers dressed to go to the local swimming pool and some adults who looked like they had just gone shopping, if the groceries next to them indicated such. Harry paid the conversations no mind as he took out another book to read and waited patiently for his stop.

When the bus finally reached his stop, a station halfway between the Leaky Cauldron and Stephanie's bookshop, young Harry went down the stairs of the bus and onto the street.

'This place hasn't changed' Harry thought with a nostalgic feeling as he looked at the street from the same spot at which he had looked at it those many months ago. The stores that lined the street still had large, bright signs that attracted customers who walked by and children ran by, eager to look at the toys, with their parents frantically running after them.

Not wanting to waste time reminiscing about the past, Harry quickly spotted the bookstore that had changed his life. He quickly walked towards it, happy to see that it was still where he remembered it to be.

Harry walked inside the bookstore and as he stepped through the doorway, a familiar tingling assaulted his senses and the familiar changes in scenery took place.

'_It seems that Stephanie is busy right now.'_ Harry noted as he spotted the counter at which the witch was busy talking with a blond-haired witch at the moment.

'_I'll bother her later'_ Harry thought as he made his way to the back of the bookstore where he had last seen the section called ancient runes. For the past few months, Harry felt almost ashamed at his progress in deciphering the transmutation circlers that he had set out to solve. He had been more focused on improving his reserves, both magical and alchemical, to focus on the circles.

'_It was really worth it though,'_ Harry thought with a smile on his face.

'_I finally have the reserves needed to perform more large scale transmutations and enough magical energy to levitate heavier and more objects at the same.'_ Harry remembered with a smile.

It turned out that the control needed to direct his magical energy to his will had also transferred to his alchemical abilities. Magic was unruly and wild, always trying to escape his grasp when he even showed the smallest of weaknesses. Alchemy on the other hand was much more focused and so, if he was able to control something as wild as magic, alchemical energy was much easier to direct.

Harry made his way back to the bookstore and pulled out the same book that he had started long ago and continued to read, deciding that he would talk to Stephanie when she was free.

Almost an hour later, Harry had finished the thick, heavy tome about Ancient Runes and several more like it laid by his feet.

'_In fact, I've pretty much looked through this entire shop for books to buy, and she still hasn't finished talking yet! I have to leave soon to check out some of the stuff in the alley too!'_ Harry thought in an angry tone. As smart as Harry might be, he was still a nine-year old and still had a short temper. Of course, Harry was also of the male gender, and it would take years for Harry to understand that women could gossip for hours, a lesson that most males never learned at all.

Having enough, Harry took the books which he planned to purchase in his hands and slowly walked towards the counter. If anyone was to look at him, their eyes would most likely widen and start clapping as they watched the balancing act before them. The tower of that books that Harry carried was several times taller than him and seemed ready to fall over at any instant. It was only with years of practice at the library and several bruises from his failed attempts that Harry was able to master this skill and obtain a sense of balance that most athletes would kill for. His martial arts training had also helped in this sense because he would never have been able to lift the tower otherwise.

Stephanie had been having a nice talk with one of her best friends about the days and issues that seemed to come up. She, of course, hadn't told her best friend about her meeting with Harry Potter for his sake, but almost couldn't control herself to prevent bragging to her best friend about that meeting.

As she continued to talk with her friend, something moving caught her attention.

'_Did that book tower just move?'_ She wondered as she didn't remember animating any of the books in the store or any books capable of moving themselves.

The book tower seemed to stop and get even taller. While it was visible before because its height went over the shelves, the tower almost touched the ceiling now and had continued making its way to her.

Stephanie could only stare as the books continued to move behind the shelves and get closer to her.

By now, the blond-haired witch had also noticed her partner's lapse in attention and turned around to see what Stephanie's attention had been focused on.

To prepare for the worse, both witches had taken out their wands but soon found it unnecessary as the bottom of the tower came out from behind the shelves that were previous hiding it to reveal a nine year old boy balancing the tower of books and slowly walking calmly towards them.

"Harry, it's great to see you again!" Stephanie exclaimed after finding out the person who was the cause of the moving tower of books.

The sudden exclamation surprised the young boy, causing him to lose his balance and the tower of books tumbling down.

It was only a quick "Wingardium Leviosa" from the blond-witch that saved poor Harry, and the tomes were quickly levitated to the desk and divided into even piles.

"It's nice to see you too! I really have to thank you for introducing to the wizarding world and taking me to Diagon Alley last time; however, I was so busy that I neglected to purchase any of the books here!" Harry replied as he motioned his hands to the large stack of tomes that lay on the counter that seemed ready to fall at the smallest vibration.

A small, polite cough could be heard as the two's conversation was interrupted by the third individual that melted into the background when Harry had begun to talk. Both of them turned their heads towards the third person who stood next to Harry and across the counter from Stephanie.

"Steph, I think you forgot to introduce us?" The other woman asked in a slightly amused tone from seeing the interaction between the two.

Stephanie blushed in embarrassment for her bad manners and quickly calmed down; even though seeing the largest celebrity of the Wizarding rule was quite important, it was no excuse to be rude.

"Ah, my apologies. Harry, allow me to introduce to a frequent customer of mine and a good friend, Selena Lovegood. Selena, this young lad here is Harry." Stephanie said as she pointed to the selected individuals when they were introduced.

Harry hadn't actually been able to take the time to observe Stephanie's friend until now because his concentration had been on his books, but his examination of her clothing indicated she had been well-versed in non-magical culture.

If Harry was to guess, Selene was around 5 feet 8 and towered over young Harry by nearly two heads. Her small nose and blue eyes on her oval-shaped head were framed by locks of blond hair that reached to her waist. She worse a simple pair of jeans and runners and had donned a t-shirt with a spring jacket for the cool weather outside.

It was much more different than Stephanie's clothing that consisted of a stereotypical witch image with a black cloak and pointed hat.

"It's nice to meet you ma'am. The spell you did with the books really helped me a lot." Harry said as he took out his right hand to shake Selene's.

"Oh my, what a polite young lad. You're very welcome." She responded as she shook Harry's outstretched hand with her own and let go after the customary two shakes. The fact that Harry's last name was not mentioned throughout the introduction remained ignored.

"But I am surprised that you were able to carry so many books at one time without any help." Selene mentioned as attention was refocused on the books that Harry had somehow managed to bring to the counter.

"What can I say? I've had a lot of practice with these types of things." Harry replied as one of his hands started to mess with his hair and a blush started to creep onto his face, not used to being complimented.

"So, what books do you have here? Potions, Charms, Runes ..." Stephanie voiced which slowly died down as the number of topics continued to grow. She had slowly separated the large stack of books into smaller ones for easier processing and scanning the covers of the books that she saw.

"Since I'm new to the wizarding world, I wanted to get a general idea about the things out there." Harry explained.

'_The more I know, the more I can be prepared for this world and grow strong enough to get back at those Dursleys'_ Harry thought to himself, a small smile spreading across his face as he imagined all the things he would be able to do once he was strong enough.

The other two misinterpreted the smile as an eagerness to learn and seeing as they were both former Ravenclaws, were happy to see such willingness to obtain knowledge in one as young as Harry.

The sudden interruption of the loud bearing chimes of the grandfather clock located near the store front brought the attention of the three individuals back to reality.

"Is it that time already?" Stephanie asked to no one in particular, looking forward to when she would be able to leave the store and get off work.

"I'm really sorry Stephanie, but I need to leave soon. Could I buy these books now?" Harry said as he took out his money pouch to pay for them.

"Sure, no problem. The total comes to 9 galleon, 7 sickles and 9 knuts. I've placed a spell on them that should automatically shrink when you say reducio and enlarge when you say engorgio. Unfortunately, these spells won't be able to last forever and you will eventually need to find a way to recharge them. They should last for a good 20 uses though." Stephanie replied as she accepted the money from Harry and demonstrated the spells on the books for his benefit.

"Thanks, I still have to go to Diagon Alley to get some supplies." Harry said as the books were shrunk and individually placed in his backpack.

"Oh, you're going to Diagon Alley as well," Selene said. "I'm actually headed there right now to meet up with the rest of my family, would you like to come with me?"

"That would be wonderful; I was starting to worry about how I would be able to get in without a wand of my own. While I was planning on ask someone, it would be uncomfortable talking to complete strangers in a pub." Harry graciously accepted the offer.

"Sorry, but I'm still stuck here for a little while. I'll come with you next time!" Stephanie promised as the two began to go through the doorway and the familiar tingling feeling that Harry recognized as magic washed over them.

"Well, let's be on our way then?" Selene asked Harry as they started to walk to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pair walked in silence for a while as each contemplated their thoughts, but as the silence started to become awkward, Selena broke Harry from his thoughts with a simple question.

"So, Harry was it? How come you're shopping alone?" Selena asked rhetorically to start up a conversation while actually really curious about the child she had just met. The fact that a young kid was walking around in downtown London without a guardian was worrisome to her.

"Ah, my guardians are planning to pick me up later as let me shop as I please. They trust me" Harry lied as they continued to walk through the busy street. Selena didn't question any further and trusted Harry's words.

'_As if! I trust the Dursleys as much as I can throw them, that is, without any magical or alchemic help. Hell, it's more likely they'll end up throwing me!'_ Harry thought darkly in response to the lie he just told. While he didn't want to deceive such a nice person, Harry felt that he had little choice as he didn't need extra attention.

"I see, so how is it that you know of our world? I seem to recall that you mentioned that you only found out not too long ago, and you seem much too young to be starting Hogwarts." Selene asked.

"I actually stumbled onto Stephanie's shop by accident and she helped to teach me about what was going on when she noticed that I was pretty lost." Harry said as he felt embarrassed that he sounded like a lost child; which he was but still felt silly.

"Well, that's Stephanie for you. She really used to like tutoring younger years and teaching. The only thing greater was her love for books." Stephanie commented.

"Does that mean you and Stephanie knew each other from school?" Harry asked as the information he received implied such a relationship and glad that the conversation had been steered away from his guardians.

"Yep, we were dorm mates. We used to talk about the time and even though we both went off to got jobs and start a family after we graduated, we still meet from time to time to catch-up." Selena explained to Harry who nodded as he processed the information.

Harry was grateful for Selene's more normal clothing as passerby didn't spare them a glance. With his walk with Stephanie, they had been under some questioning glares thanks to the woman's magical clothing. Fortunately, the walk had been short and they were spared further glances during that trip when they entered the Leaky Cauldron.

Soon, the pair had reached the shabby-looking bar that was the Leaky Cauldron. Non-magical people continued to walk by as if it didn't exist but Selena and Harry quickly walked straight through the door, disappearing from the muggle world.

As Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron, the feeling of magic washed over him once he stepped beyond the door's threshold.

'_Based on all of the feelings, that I've had, I'm pretty sure it's magic but why is it no one else can feel it? Or is it that they're accustomed to it?'_ Harry wondered and decided to voice his opinion.

"Did you feel that?" Harry questioned Selena.

"Feel what?" Selena replied, confusion evident in her voice as she looked around to see the source of the 'feeling' Harry had felt.

"Never mind," Harry replied, realizing that Selena hadn't felt the same sensation once they had walked into the Leaky Cauldron and decided to view the pub they had walked into and opted to ponder the feeling later.

Tom was still behind the bar cleaning glasses with a rag, making Harry wonder if he ever _moved _from that spot. Numerous witches and wizards dressed in traditional clothing sat at the various wooden tables located throughout the pub as they talked with each other. Magical dishes floated to customers who had ordered them and Harry had to quickly duck to avoid being hit. Along the back wall, a fireplace was located where witches and wizards were coming out of the fire...

...

"What the ...?" Harry exclaimed in alarm as his head snapped back to the fireplace with eyes fixated on the witches and wizards purposely walking into and out of _fire_!

Harry's exclamation must have caught Selena's attention as she followed Harry's gaze and carefully explained.

"That's our floo network," Selene explained to Harry who had looked up at her once she had started to talk. "It allows magical people to travel between locations connected through a series of fireplaces. You get used to it after a while."

'_First quills and now walking into fire? This place is starting to be a bit too weird!'_ Harry thought, starting to question the sanity of the magical world (it would not be the first time either).

The two continued to walk by Tom, to which they greeted before heading off to the entrance of the Alley.

Taking out her wand from her back jean's pocket, Selena tapped the required bricks, causing the wall to change and revealing the alley in all its glory.

'_Even though I've already seen this, it's still an amazing sight to behold!' _Harry thought as he saw children running up and down the cobble-stone street and looked at the signs of the various stores lined up along the Alley.

"Well this is where we'll be splitting up, Harry. Are you're sure that you'll be okay?" Selene asked. Her motherly instincts and common sense were making her question her decision to leave the young boy alone in the Alley.

"I'll be fine." Harry reassured her with a light tone though was very grateful to have someone care for his well-being to such an extent.

"Have fun and take care!" She shouted as she walked into the crowd and blended in until Harry could no longer keep track of where she went.

"Thanks!" Harry shouted back, even though he wasn't sure if she was even _within _hearing distance anymore.

And with that, Harry, too, entered the busy shopping district after making sure that his cap had been properly adjusted so that it hid his scar from the public view.

'_Looks like I still have a lot of time to shop.'_ Harry thought as he glanced at a nearby magical clock that indicated that it was still only 10. With a grin on his face and a loaded money pouch, the young boy decided that today was going to be a good day!

-Page Break -

'_THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!' _Harry thought with excitement. _'Sure, I saw some of the shops last time but to actually be able to BUY things is a whole other matter entirely!' _

It had been a total of 3 hours since Harry had started his shopping spree and had finally stopped by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to enjoy himself. He had purchased a simple chocolate ice cream cone to eat while his shrunken purchases stayed in a small shopping bag that was placed next to his chair in the private booth located at the back of the store.

'_But to really think wizards and witches used broomsticks,'_ Harry thought. When he had visited Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry had been able overheard gossiping teenagers about the broomsticks that were on display in the store window. It wasn't very hard as there were at least five teenagers surrounding the glowing broomstick (yes, it was GLOWING, probably a spell. Harry thought) and hadn't bothered to keep their voices down.

'_To fly to 80 km/h on a thin, stick of wood at an elevation of hundreds of feet above ground without any safety net?'_ Harry pondered responsively, only adding to his idea that some of these magical people weren't exactly playing with a full deck of cards.

The other stores he had visited were also very exciting but since he doubted that he could hide an owl or any magical pet from his relatives, the idea of purchasing something from Magical Menagerie was not likely.

'_Let's not even think about making potions in my room!'_ Harry thought with a shudder, 'The fumes alone would notify anyone that _something_ was going on in my room.'

To Harry's dismay, he had also failed to purchase a wand despite lying about his age , which apparently was needed to do any magic, according to the Stephanie's explanation of the wizarding world to Harry in their previous meeting.

'_But it was odd, that man, 'Ollivander'_ Harry reminded himself as a shiver went down his back. 'he almost seemed to know who I was.' Harry thought to himself.

In the end, Harry had only ended up purchasing some food and sweets as a back-up source of nourishment if those blasted Dursleys decided to try to starve him again. The perseverations charms of the goods would keep them fresh for a much longer period of time than normal.

'_And then there was that idiotic ...'_ Harry continued to ponder while eating away at his ice cream cone.

"You know, I think there are too many Wrackspurts gathering around here," The girl across from Harry mentioned as she made a shooing a motion above Harry's head as if to hit invisible flies that only she could see.

"Wrackspurts?" Harry questioned, confused by the term that girl was using.

"Invisible creatures that make your brain go fuzzy." The girl replied, now sitting down after she deemed that the more of the wrackspurts had been taken care of. How she knew that the _invisible_ creatures were gone was left unmentioned.

Harry nodded in understanding. 'If wizards rode brooms, who was he to say that there weren't invisible magical creatures as well?' he thought to himself.

Focusing his glaze back on the young, blond haired girl in front of him, Harry had to admit that she was dressed oddly. While she wore clothing that would not stand out amongst many of the other magical citizens that walked up and down the alley, certain aspects of her wardrobe made him curious.

The blonde girl, whose height was only slightly smaller than Harry's own, donned a purple summer dress with a black cloak that covered her shoulders and sheltered her body from the breeze that blew down the alley. She wore black socks with a pair of running shoes to match.

While those clothes were nothing out of the ordinary, the bottle-cap necklace around her neck and various other "accessories" she wore made her easily stick out.

'Sometimes, I really wonder how I get in these situations,' Harry thought as he started to remember how this situation had come about.

-**Flashback** (AN: I _really_ have to stop relying on these to explain things xD) -

Harry had made his way through most of the alley but saved the best for last: Flourish & Blotts. When Harry had first seen it, the shelves of spell books that were visible through the store display window almost made Harry want to charge in immediately. He wanted to read those books BADLY, but had decided against it.

'_Better save the best for last, so I can spend the rest of my free time in the alley there' _Harry told himself and had done just that, though it had taken a large amount of will power to just force himself to walk away.

It was only two hours later that with the rest of the shopping done, Harry had taken no time in walking briskly to the bookstore, intent on not acting like a fool and running hysterically to the location.

Once Harry had opened the door and stepped into the bookstore, he was greeted with the sight of tens of bookshelves filling with books as the sound of a bell was heard above him, signaling to the salespeople managing the book store that another customer had come in.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The tall man behind the counter to the left of the entrance asked Harry with an eager smile on his face.

"No than-" Harry had been started to say but was rudely cut off by another voice behind him.

"Yes, you can. I require certain titles to add to the ancestral library, and it would be in your best interest to help me find them as quickly and efficiently as you can." A male voice behind Harry declared with a feeling of superiority and arrogance.

Wondering who had cut him off, Harry turned around to look up at the speaker and was met with a blond-white-haired man who was dressed in what almost appeared like a black business suit with a green dark cloak that covered most of the man's body. The most distinguishing feature was a serpentine-like carving on top of the wooden cane that the man held in his hand, though it did not appear the man used it for walking but more as a fashion statement.

"Father, must we really go in with you? Couldn't we perhaps wait for you at Quality Quidditch Supplies?" Another voice behind the man made Harry look back at his own height level to reveal 3 children near his age that had stayed unnoticed from Harry's view.

The young boy who had spoken appeared almost identical to his father, dressed in a similar fashion and with the same blond-white hair, pale, pointed face and stone-grey eyes. The main difference being that the boy's hair was shorter and sleeked back with what appeared gallons of hair gel while the man's hair was left to flow freely to his shoulders. The two other boys beside the blond-haired one were another story. Their large size and intimidating figures reminded Harry of Dudley back home and made a mental note to be careful around them.

"Is that whining I hear, Draco?" The man asked his son with a friendly tone but the cold undertone made it clear to everyone listening that any answer that didn't please the man would result in dire consequences.

"No, father, just a question," Draco replied while the other two boys next to him stood still and had yet to utter a word.

"That is good, Draco. To answer your question, I expect you to get the first year books set that Hogwarts will be using. The curriculum has changed since my time and Malfoys don't use second-hand books." The man, Mr. Malfoy, replied while turning around to face his son and friends, taking his attention away from the people in the bookstore.

"First year books, Father?" Draco questioned in a respectful tone but still confused as he had yet to reach the age required to attend Hogwarts.

"What do you think books are used for, Draco?" Mr. Malfoy asked rhetorically.

"Studying, of course," the older blonde answered himself, "You might be too young but I will not allow some filthy mudbloods to surpass you in terms of magical knowledge and skill when the time comes. I have deemed it about time your magical core was stable enough to learn how." Mr. Malfoy answered with a tone that indicated he was displeased with Draco's question.

If Draco showed any negative feelings towards his father, Harry couldn't see it as the young Malfoy continue to stand straight with a feel of arrogance around him.

"I expect you to get these books while my attention is needed elsewhere. I presume that you will be fine?" Mr. Malfoy questioned.

"Yes, father." Draco replied, seeing that any other answer wound most likely enrage his father further.

With a quick nod to confirm that Draco's answer was the correct one, Mr. Malfoy turned around to meet the gazing Harry Potter who had yet to move from the doorway as he had been too entranced by the situation unfolding behind him.

Noticing that he was still in the way, Harry swiftly mumbled a "Sorry" and started to move out of the way so the elder Malfoy could enter.

Before he could fully get out of the way, Harry felt a force hitting his side and pushing onto the floor and away from the entrance.

"Wha?" Harry got out before he had fallen to the floor. Fortunately, years of practice had ensured that he had fallen properly and landed on his hands to prevent any further injuries.

"As expected of a mudblood, not only is your body slow, your brain can't even seem to keep up. No manners what so ever." Mr. Malfoy said as his cane was still in his hand but instead of supporting the elder Malfoy, the cane was where Harry had been only moments ago, meaning that it was the cane that had pushed Harry.

With that, the elder Malfoy walked into the store where a store clerk threw a glance to Harry's direction as if to 'I'm sorry' before making his way into the deeper sections of the store with Mr. Malfoy in tow.

"Know your place, mudblood" the Malfoy heir told Harry.

"Crabbe, Goyle, let's go," Draco ordered as he walked into the store to find the books he needed.

Crabbe and Goyle followed right behind the Malfoy but not before pushing down young Harry who had been trying to get up, smiling as the bullied Harry.

'_Must not kill, Must not kill, Must not kill ...'_ Harry repeated the mantra in his head countless number of times as his rage boiled and tried to take deep breaths. It was only with practice of holding back against the Dursleys that Harry was able to curb his killer instinct against the blond haired kid and his minions.

It worked for about three seconds.

'_I'm gonna kill those slimeballs!' _Harry thought with a vengeance as he slowly got up from the wooden floor and started to head in the direction that Malfoy had originally gone to.

Making sure that he was able to hide behind the shelves with his small frame while following his soon-to-be victims, Harry slowly followed the boys to a lone corner of the bookshop where, if Harry read the shelf correctly, was where first year books were held.

Fortunately for Harry, Crabbe and Goyle had acted like bodyguards and blocked any escape route that Draco possibly by cornering him. The bodies of the two minions were large enough so that Draco couldn't even see anything past them but his attention was too focused on the task his father had given him to really care. The two thugs were also facing Draco's direction as to see what the Malfoy was looking at, hoping that there were pictures in said books.

'_Perfect'_ Harry thought as he watched the two minions get bored and turn around to see what Draco doing instead of acting like proper lookouts.

"This will make sure they regret messing with me" Harry muttered under his breath as he rubbed his hands menacingly and tried to hold back the evil laugh that threatened to come out.

Taking a quick glance to make sure that no one was around, Harry decided to put his plan into his action as no one seemed to be in the nearby vicinity.

Harry took a deep breath and quickly clapped his hands and placed them to the ground, alchemic energy running through the circle his arms created.

Slight sparks of electricity were visible as the alchemical energy ran down a path from Harry to the other boys; the floor gently glowed as the wooden floor swallowed up the feet of the three males.

It had taken the three boys a few moments to notice their predicament as it wasn't until that the Malfoy heir had wanted to proceed to another area of the library that he saw that the wooden floor had surround him to just below his knees. Shouts of rage could be heard for the Malfoy heir as the other two simply grunted.

"Crabbe, Goyle, get me out of this at once!" Draco ordered as he tried to pull his own legs free from the wood that surrounded his feet.

Hearing their orders, the two boys tried to escape first by swinging theirs arms and firsts around in hopes of possibly twisting out of the wooden traps their legs had been encased by. So absorbed in getting out, they failed to notice that they had begun to swing their arms more excessively in the cramped space in further attempts to escape.

"What are you two, imbeciles, doing?" Draco asked in an angry tone as he barely dodged on the first swinging his way. "At this rate, you're going to hit m-"

Draco was quickly cut off as the swinging fists of both boys knocked him out cold, sending the Malfoy into dreamland as his body crouched over and fell onto the floor by his knees, feet still trapped in the wood. Drool could be seen running from his mouth as he lay lifelessly on the floor.

"Look at what you did!" Crabbe exclaimed at Goyle after seeing Draco go down.

"Me? That was your fault!" Goyle argued back.

Harry watched as the two began to start attempting to push each other and blame the other for their current situation. It eventually ended up with both boys being pushed on to the ground as they feel and hit their heads on the floor, knocking them out as well (though Harry could swear he could hear a hollow thump sound when their heads had hit the floor).

Harry stared at the scene wide-eyed at the situation he had just created. Small snickers could be heard from his mouth as he tried to smother the laughs with his hand.

'_I didn't think it would turn out this good!'_ Harry thought to himself, satisfied with getting back at those arrogant boys.

"That was an interesting trick." Someone said behind Harry as he had been preoccupied with his revenge to notice their presence.

With his heart pumping faster than ever, Harry quickly turned around to meet the person who saw him as his mind tried to think up of a possible excuse to what just happened.

The person who Harry turned to face was a blonde girl who, if Harry had to guess, was only a bit younger than him.

"I don't know what you mean." Harry replied to the blonde girl in front of him, but even he had to admit that his voice wavered too much for it to be believable.

"Though if I were you, I would have transfigured the book shelves and the floor into a small cage so that they can be gawked at like animals in a zoo." The blonde hair girl continued to say, still focused on the sight behind Harry.

'_That would have been awesome!'_ Harry thought to himself in awe at the girl's idea, but despite how badly he wanted to follow on those recommendations, Harry continued to try acting innocent though his hands still twitched at the idea of transmutating a cage for the boys.

"I still don't know what trick you're talking about." Harry told the girl.

"The trick where you clapped your hands and transfigured the floor around their legs? I would be pretty sure that you would know what I'm talking about." Luna said in a dazed voice as her gaze turned back to Harry instead of focusing on the body of the three knocked-out boys at the edge of the library store.

"Perhaps, you're talking about accidental magic? I hear it's pretty common." Harry retorted, trying to use any excuse that came to mind, though with his naivety concerning the magic world, he had very few to use.

"You do KNOW that accidental magic is just that, right? It usually doesn't include sparks and clapping." She replied, cutting through the excuse like it was not even there, but still maintaining a sense of aloofness that showed a lack of care for his reply.

The blonde girl continued to stare into the eyes of Harry, giving him the feeling that she could see right through him.

"Then... what do you think it was?" Harry questioned her, trying to get in control of the situation and gain some power over the situation.

"If I had to say, the sparks and the manipulation of the elements around the boys can be any sort of magic." the girl started as she gazed upon the three boys again.

Harry sighed in relief that she had identified his transmutation as magic and not alchemy as he had yet to see others before a similar feat and had not wishes to stand out amongst the rest of the wizarding world; however, his relief was short lived at the girl's next words.

"But I would guess it was an alchemic transmutation." The blonde girl stated in a monotone voice that left no doubt in what she believed she had seen, her gaze back at Harry who's eyes had widened considerably after her sentence.

"Nonsense, alchemy? It wouldn't be able to do something like that! Alchemy is just changing rocks into gold!" Harry tried to rationalize to the girl even though on the inside, he was sweating.

Harry had searched up books for alchemy while in Stephanie's bookstore and had even questioned her about it, but the alchemy they spoke of was completely different than his.

For once, they said it was a _magical_ branch of study, but Harry knew that his transmutations came from a different source of energy completely.

Secondly, any inquiries made into the subject of alchemy led to two names: Nicholas Flamel and Albus Dumbledore as the more recent practitioners of this so-called alchemy, and their results proved to be nothing similar to what he was capable of.

Thirdly, their Philosopher's stone that Flamel had created was completely different than what Harry was used to. The Elixir of Life and the ability to turn rocks into gold? When he had seen that, Harry almost laughed. It didn't take much effort to transmute gold, and Harry knew that human transmutation was currently far beyond his reach.

In response, the girl simply gave her a raised eyebrow at him, making Harry feel embarrassed that he had suggested.

"Well, as interesting as this was, I have to go now, bye!" the young girl said as she started to skip away while humming a tune that Harry found himself unfamiliar with.

But before exiting the row of books she was in, the girl quickly spun around to face Harry once again with a smile on her face as she shouted, "By the way, my name is Luna!"

Luna then turned around and continued to skip out of the row of books and inside the rest of the store.

Unsure what to do, Harry simply stood there what felt was hours before his brain finally caught up to him.

'_That girl knows something about MY alchemy and I NEED to know what she knows about alchemy!'_ Harry thought with a hurry.

Harry began to run as fast as he could, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious girl that had left only moments before. As he ran from the corner he had initially started, his head kept turning left and right, looking through the vast rows of bookshelves within the store while following the sound of the tune he had heard before. The tune seemed to come from all directions as his search continued, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Only done with searching half the bookstore, he heard the bell above the bookstore door ring and the tune disappeared. Harry quickened his pace and ran to the front of the store and quickly exited but not before he heard screams of outrage coming from the corner the boys had been found unconscious with.

Harry inwardly grinned at the amount of chaos that he had created and quickly left the scene of the crime before anyone noticed him further.

Once outside, the loud sounds of the alley pounded on his ears as he strained to hear the girl's humming tune. The loud shouting voices of vendors drowned out most sounds as families and children ran up and down the alley.

"She can't be far," Harry muttered to himself. He thanked his good luck when he sported the head of blonde hair he had come to recognize belonging to the mysterious girl headed down back to the entrance of the alley.

Pushing and shoving his way through the crowds with his shrunken purchases still in his a bad in his hand, Harry continued to pursue the girl who held the answers to questions that plagued his mind since entering the magical world and finding a lack of explanation for his abilities.

Fortunately for Harry, the girl eventually stopped at a bright store called Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where Luna had stopped and was last in a line of customers wanting to purchase some ice cream.

The store seemed completely composed of vibrant bright colours with booths meant for a seating of four in the interior of the restaurant while shaded umbrella tables and chairs laid outside for people who wished to enjoy the wonderful weather the alley had to offer.

Following Luna's lead, Harry lined up behind her and lightly tapped the younger girl's shoulder, causing her to turn around to face Luna.

"Why hello again, how interesting that we meet again so soon." Luna greeted Harry, who wasn't sure if she even noticed his heavy panting from the frantic chase this girl had led him.

"It's nice to see you too," Harry greeted back through his shortened breaths as the adrenaline started to recede from his system. "I was hoping to ask you a few questions about what you said before in the bookstore."

"It's such a lovely day for ice cream isn't it? My favourite is bubblegum, what's yours?" Luna asked back, completely ignoring Harry's attempts to find out more information.

"Chocolate," Harry replied, trying to make up a conversation if the direct approach would not work. '_If the Dursleys have taught me anything, it's patience.'_

"Oh that's nice, though I prefer a better bubblegum, chocolate's okay too." Luna replied and tilted her head into the interior of the parlour.

Following her gaze, Harry saw an unused private table in the back where most had avoided in preference for the outside tables where the wind was much stronger than what you could feel inside the store.

Noticing that Harry had turned his head in the direction that she had properly pointed out, Luna turned her head back into the direction of the line where she was next to order and continued to hum.

Indicating that the conversation was over until their food purchased, Harry's mind ran endlessly with excitement as the answers he needed laid in this girl's head.

Once Luna had purchased her bubblegum ice cream cone, she then proceeded to the back booth where the noise level had increased to an extent so that their conversation would not be easily overheard.

Quickly purchasing his own frozen treat for a few sickles, Harry quickly made his way into the private booth where Luna had gone in just moments before.

-**End flashback**-

Finishing her ice cream cone, Luna finally turned towards Harry once again and asked, "So, what did you want to know?" as she slightly tilted her head, observing Harry's actions.

All Harry could think was _'Finally, some answers.'_

And thus, in a private booth of a noisy ice cream parlour of Diagon Alley, did Harry finally get the some of the answers that he had been searching for.

**-End Chapter -**

**AN:** Well, it's definitely been a while huh? I was hoping to write more of the chapter that I had planned but this has been the longest chapter I have ever written and wish to publish it before I start procrastinating again.

Reviews are completely welcomed and suggestions even more. Thanks for all your support and sorry for the delay!


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